The D&D Chronicles: The Adventure Begins
Chapter 23: Don't Mention the Warlock
Brady Oaks Police Station
Patrick couldn't believe the luck he had tonight, as he waited inside his mum's car.
He tried to stop 3 of his friends from entering a museum after closing hours upon discovering the gremlins' nest.
The reason for getting in there was because they encouraged him to help save the curator and two night guards who were still in there. The small problem, all three were actually shapeshifters who the gremlins were in cahoots with.
Along with what it was that tried to attack them.
Upon a quick fight with them and managing to get away, things only got "better" as they were caught by the police upon hearing of the break-in.
Patrick just sighed in disbelief, thinking about when they went to the police station, and got their mugshots taken (Chuckie and the twins mucked about making ridiculous poses like they were in a shooting gallery, and dragged him into one of them too). Luckily, Mr. Sturges came by, and a little later, managed to help out drop any charges that could have been pressed on them.
That felt good.
What didn't feel good was his mum being called over to collect them.
Now there he was, waiting in the car with Chuckie and the twins, as he watched his mum and teacher exiting the police station, as he could hear their conversation.
"I can't thank you enough for what you've done for them," Johanna said with a smile, "I'm just glad she didn't press any charges."
"It's alright, Johanna," Mr. Sturges replied, "to be honest, Miss Hanami is mainly a very old acquaintance of mine, though we don't quite get along well at times. But all I know is that all of this was just a very huge major misunderstanding."
As he continued seeing his teacher comforting his mum, Patrick could hear the others chatting about the unexpected encounter they made back at the museum.
"Who else do you think could be a shapeshifter?" Chuckie asked, "Coach Cruz? Biff?"
He then gasped lightly as he then added, "What if Sturges is one of them?"
Patrick couldn't believe that Chuckie would say that, even more so as the twins joined in.
"Yeah," Raph nodded, "one minute he's all nice and kind."
"And then, bam!" Hazel then added, "He stabs in the back! Literally!"
"Oh please, Sturges has been Brady Oaks High's history teacher since the dawn of history," Patrick said to them, not believing that last part, "and if he's one, I'm one."
Chuckie and the twins still looked to Struges outside with sceptic nervousness, though Patrick just rolled his eyes with a scoff and pushed them away back in their seats, until Chuckie then said, "Still, though, while that curator was a Tiefling, the other two, those creatures looked familiar for some reason. Can't put a finger on it, why…"
Hazel then spoke up, as she added, "Yeah, well, what about that creature that was there? We never encountered anything like that, even back in our campaign days." she then got out her phone, showing them the picture she took of the creature that attacked them, "It looked like some sort of a neon black lizard or something!"
Patrick took a look at the picture of the creature, and then spotted something that was on the creature's chest. Something he had noticed a little bit during when it was chasing after him and Hazel and when it was fighting him later on.
On the chest of the creature was some sort of red symbol, when he looked at it, it almost reminded him of the symbols for both the Caduceus and the Rod of Asclepius.
The symbol looked mainly like the former, only without the staff with the wings on it, and that the top part of the symbol almost resembled an eye.
"What do you think that was anyway?" Raph asked, getting Patrick's attention.
"I'm not sure…" Patrick then had a bit of thought as he asked, "Did you or Chuckie have any pictures of where we were fighting?"
Hazel nodded as Chuckie brought out his phone and added, "I did too."
Chuckie gave Patrick his phone, as the young Paladin looked back at the photos, and found the one that he was looking for, being a picture of a half-completed bridge, luckily, there were two or three snapshots of it, a little blurry, but it were still viewable.
"I know where I've seen this bridge," Patrick said, looking carefully at the picture, "it's the same one that Blinky told us about a while back."
"You mean the 'Rocky Rumble Bridge'?" Raph asked.
"Actually, it's 'Ragnarok Bridge'," Chuckie corrected, before looking at Patrick, "but, isn't that, like, ancient history or something?"
Patrick looked at the picture, and then began to realize what was going on, as spoke in worrying realization, "They're trying break Koroglugg out!"
"Wait, you mean that brute ogre and those other Dumm-Dumm creeps?!" Hazel asked in a bit of worry, as she, Raph and Chuckie started to see what he meant.
"It's got to be." Patrick said, then remembered what Hogsqueal said during the debako with Eda's cursed form, "And I think this could be what Hogsqueal was talking about."
Chuckie looked a little nervous as he said, "You mean Ghoular's plan is to rebuild the bridge to release Koroglugg from the Shadowfell?"
"Exactly!" Patrick said, "This is bad, guys! Like 'Goodbye, Brady Oaks' bad!"
"Okay, so, what do we do?"
"You contact Taylor and the others," Patrick told them, handing Chuckie's phone back to him, "and as soon as we get home, we go straight to Blinky."
Soon, Johanna and Sturges returned back to the car, as Johanna got in to join the kids and looked to their teacher, "You really didn't have to go through all that trouble, Mr. Sturges."
"Please, call me Rodney." Mr. Sturges said with a smile, "And I insist, it's the very least I could do for one of my best students and his friends."
"Well, there must be something I can do to repay you." Johanna then offered, "Tea? Coffee? A dinner, perhaps?"
This caught Patrick and his friends off guard when they heard that, especially as Sturges replied, "A coffee would be a delight, thank you. Though I'll have a raincheck on dinner if possible."
"Looking forward to it, Rodney." Johanna smiled, though Patrick was a little awkward and uneasy about this.
Sturges, meanwhile, gave a small little cough to straighten himself, then looked at Patrick, "Anyways… Patrick."
All eyes were now on Patrick at this, worried looks for his friends, while Johanna had a stern one, yet Sturges was still calm through all this.
Patrick let out a tiny sigh, as he said, "Mr. Sturges, I am really sorry about what had happened. I was just trying to help my friends, and it was a mistake to go into the museum and-"
Sturges just remained kind and calm, as he raised a hand to stop and said, "Patrick, it's alright. And you only did what you thought was right. Still, I hope you found what you were looking for."
Patrick looked at him a little baffled, as was about to ask when Sturges beat him to the punch, "That chubby-tracker of Chuckie's."
"Oh, yeah, that." Patrick got what he meant and nodded on that.
"Good to hear." Sturges smiled, "Though stay safe, Young Atlas. Make sure to have someone there to look out for you just as you do for your family and friends, or next time, the consequences may end up more severe."
Soon, as Sturges left, Patrick looked to his mom as he asked in a (seemingly calm) curious and disbelieved tone, "Backup a sec, did you just ask my teacher out on a date?!"
Johanna soon looked at her son, as she soon sternly spoke as any parent who was angry at what their kid would have done, "Oh, don't you make this about me, Patrick Lee Kirby! You guys broke into a museum!" She then brought out Chuckie's chubby-tracker, the very item responsible for their predicament at the moment, "And for this?!"
"The twins I would expect this from, but you?! Even Chuckie?" She then looked at Patrick as she then said, "You are grounded until you apologize to that woman."
Patrick looked worried and sad upon hearing that, as did his friends, as Johanna started the car with a huff, before looking at Patrick as she said, "Got it?"
"Yes, mum."
"Yes, Miss Kirby."
Soon, while Johanna drove her son and friends away, Sturges watched them leave before turning back to see Deputy Brooks coming up.
"Mr. Sturges, is it?" Brooks asked, which was replied by a nod of a head. "If I were you, I'd be keeping a close eye on them. Nothing but trouble if you ask me."
"Oh, no need to worry," Sturges responded with a smile, "true, that most of them can be a handful, but let me assure you that I always keep a close eye on my students."
"Very well," Brooks said, "I bid you good evening."
Sturges nodded and left, just as Chief Burton arrived and approached Brooks.
"Ah, Chief, how'd that investigation go?" Brooks asked, thought notice the chief of police a bit more grumpy than ever.
"It turned out to be a wild goose chase," Lex responded, a little annoyed, "there was nothing there to report."
"But, didn't Officer Holt said that-"
"You know as I do that there are no such things! All we know is that was possibly either a hoax or that there's a wild animal on the loose." Lex growled, before sighing, "Other than that, I've allowed Officer Holt a little more time on the Missing Myers case."
"Really?" Brooks asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," the chief nodded, before looking at Brooks, "I was also told about there was a break in at the museum?"
"Oh, yeah," Brooks nodded in reply, "A Mr. Sturges and a Mrs. Kirby came by to both drop the charges and collect the little troublemakers up. The teacher claimed it was a huge misunderstanding."
"Maybe, but keep a hold of their criminal records in case something like this happens again." Lex ordered.
"Roger-roonie, Lexie!" Brooks saluted.
This brought a vain on Lex's forehead as he grumbly said, "I thought I made it clear not to call me that?!"
Back with Struges, as he continued on his way home… only to stop as he heard a caw.
Looking up, he spotted a raven on top of a nearby lamppost, letting out another 'caw', but as he looked at the raven, Sturges just sternly frowned… he knew who that raven was.
Featherfang knew he did too, as he gave a stern angry stare back, before taking off to who knows where.
Sturges, meanwhile, straightened himself up, before heading off, still looking back at where Featherfang had flown off to.
Later, the Kirby Home…
Taylor and Hilda stayed up waiting for their mum to return with their brother when they came back (Kira was fast asleep).
When Rayla came by and alerted them of where she found the gremlins' den, she mentioned about Chuckie and the twins heading towards it, and no doubt into danger too.
Soon, Patrick had to leave to go after them, but had the sisters wait for him until he got back, and Hilda and Taylor stayed up until they learned that their mum had come and collected him from the police.
There was a bit of silence between the siblings and their mother, no one spoke up to one another, and neither of them said anything that could result in an argument. Despite this, it was decided by Johanna for them all to go to bed, and soon, once she was asleep (thanks to Alfur who, after being away searching, had to keep an eye to see if and when she did), Patrick brought along his sisters to his room, as Taylor mentioned about Chuckie contacting them about something big, and that Patrick will explain more when they get together with Blinky and the others.
Soon, after some extra pillows in their beds to make it like they were sleeping, the three siblings carefully climbed out of the house, to make sure that they didn't get caught (again in Patrick's case).
"Need I ask why are we sneaking out when you're supposed to be grounded?" Alfur asked, who had joined them along with Twig to accompany them to Delta Rune.
"The sooner we get to Delta Rune, you'll soon see why." Patrick could state, as the girls headed off first (Alfur in Hilda's hair, with Twig running by their side), then Patrick looked back up to where their mum was, still asleep, as he let out a sad sigh.
"I'm sorry, mum…" Patrick muttered, before joining the girls to Delta Rune.
Later still, the Guzzling Griffon, lower decks…
"Are you certain? Are you unquestionably, unequivocally-?"
"I'm certain." Patrick replied to Blinky, as the young Paladin looked back down on the drawing book he brought with him, and continued drawing a little while being part of the conversation. In all the time that he had known Blinky, he'd never seen him so… afraid? Taken back? Quiet was probably the better term. He was usually full of so much gusto and exuberance, but the moment he'd shown him the pictures Chuckie and Hazel took of that bridge in the Brady Oaks Museum of History and Culture, he'd go silent.
He wasn't the only one who had the mixed feelings of taken back worry and concern. Besides Patrick's siblings and friends, the skeleton brothers, AAARRRGGHH!, Eda, King, the dwarves, Hogsquael, Rayla and Alfur were also having the same dreadful feelings as Blinky, most of them trying to find a small bit of doubt (though Eda looked like she was either a little less interested about this, or was nervous, or even major doubt, the others were not sure).
"Could be anything." AAARRRGGHH! huffed a little.
"You sure about it, kid?" Eda asked, eyeing Patrick, "You positive you saw this?"
"100% sure!" Patrick said, looking back to her, before looking at Hogsqueal, "This has to be what Ghoular and those goblins were talking about a while back, wasn't it, Hogsqueal?"
"It does… seem like it…" Hogsqueal replied, sniffing and rubbing his nose with his finger.
They were speaking in hushed voices, crowded around a table at the pub, making sure that no one was listening in a little, while at their feet, Twig was having a nice drink from a bowl, allowing the others their privacy.
"I believe him." Hilda said, letting out a grin, "He and I have a pretty great track record on spotting certain easter eggs when watching shows and films."
"Maybe you saw a different bridge?" King shrugged, "Or something else like that?"
"I concur," Blinky replied, looking back at the images, seeing a few of them looked a little blurry, "the children's photographic skills are less than exemplary."
"Okay, so some of them are a little blurry!" Chuckie said, a little annoyed, "You try taking a picture while hauling butt, mister."
"What about those guys they encountered in the museum?" Taylor said, having heard from Chuckie upon meeting up with the others, "I mean, how can someone just change like that?"
"Well for one thing, you're spot on about the Curator being a Tiefling." Alfur responded, "But the other two…"
"They started off like humans, until they took a different form," Patrick explained, "they kept their human appearance, except with pale white skin, pale hair and black eyes."
"Og murr ma ga?" AAARRRGGHH! then spoke, as he looked to Blinky and asked in those words, much to the confusion of the humans.
They then saw and heard Blinky speak in those words, though a little stern, "Klemark ogs murkos!"
"Come again?" Callum asked.
"What was that about?" Patrick added.
Blinky looked AAARRRGGHH! sternly, giving a 'hold it' gesture with his troll hand, then looked around carefully to see if anyone could hear, then carefully spoke to Patrick and his friends.
"From how you've just described them, Master Patrick, it seems that what you've encountered are Changelings."
"That was it!" Chuckie cried a little, "Patrick, those guys we faced were cha-!"
He was quickly cut off by Rayla, who placed her hand over his mouth as she shushed him, "Keep it down! Don't cause a scene mentioning them, okay?"
"She's right, Master Charles," Blinky explained, "Changelings are a neutral party, known to spy on human and mystical worlds. Anyone could be one, in fact the mere mention of a Changeling could cause panic."
"Oh, right… sorry…" Chuckie replied.
"So, what about them?" Raph asked.
"Changelings are a bit of a sneaky and mysterious race." Eda explained, then grinned, "And they're quite cunning. My kind of people if you ask me."
While Blinky rolled his eyes at that, Sans spoke for him, "So yeah, for years, these Changelings have been known to abduct anyone at a young age, sometimes mainly humans, and then take their place."
"Their top purpose: to spy on the outside world." Papyrus added.
"So, anyone could be a Changeling?" Taylor asked.
"Indeed, anyone." Hogsqueal replied, "Even anyone you'd least expect."
Patrick didn't like that last part, especially after hearing Chuckie and the twins suggesting Sturges to be a Changeling.
"Can we change the subject to something else?" Patrick suggested.
"Oh, yeah, sure," King replied, "didn't you also say that you were attacked by something else as well?"
"We sure did, it even had a symbol on it too," Patrick said, as he took Hazel's phone, and found the image of the creature, and then showed it to King, along with his drawing book, containing the sketch image of the creature, as well as the strange symbol as well, "do you know something about these?"
King took a look at them with a thinking look, then looked at him seriously.
"Hmm... Patrick, you deserve to know the truth." King said, a bit seriously, "And the truth is…" he then simply spoke in a casual tone, "I have no idea what they are, I've never seen them before in my life."
"Let me see this…" Blinky said as he looked at the drawing and the photo, but lost his words seconds after he took one look at them, and one thing came from his mouth, in a nervous tone, "Great… grumbling… gruesome…"
The others looked at the pictures as well, and each of them all had a mixture of fear, nervousness and worry on their faces.
"Wait… is that a-?" Eda was about to ask about something, only to be cut off.
"No… that's impossible…" Gomgar muttered.
"Master Patrick," Blinky looked at Patrick and his friends with a worried look on his face, the human kids were surprised to see their mystical friends so fearful, even Alfur's stick legs were shaking, "where did you see this creature?"
"At the museum. Why'd you ask?" Patrick asked, but to no reply.
All six of his eyes widened and he twirled around, muttering words in trollish, then whispered to the others. Patrick glanced over at his friends, who all shrugged at what was happening, though the human group began to look a little nervous for their new friends.
"Is… something wrong?" Hilda spoke up.
No reply.
"You know this creature? Or this symbol, don't you?" Patrick asked, seeming to have gotten the hint that something was up.
"Is it about Koroglugg?" Luz asked.
Eda looked to her apprentice and replied, "Oh, it's far more than that dumb ogre."
"Ma'am! You know well as we do that we do not speak of him!" Blinky said harshly in a hush tone.
"It's true, I even promised not to say a thing about it," Sans sternly said, "and I don't even like making promises."
Patrick and the other kids looked uneasy at this, until the young Paladin took a deep breath and looked to their mystical friends.
"Guys, whatever this is all about, I think we deserve to know what's going on." Patrick said to them, "You know something about that creature and this symbol. What are they about?"
"You should listen to them," Eda grinned, "they gotta know what's up, and you know that one of us (mostly me) will have to tell them."
Grobar just sighed and nodded, "Very well… we'll tell them."
He looked at the other mystical allies of the humans, and most of them nodded (and mumbled) in agreement, while the others were a little unsure if they should do it.
Grobar then looked to the humans and asked, "You know much about some of the magic you've seen and learned about, don't you?"
"Y-yeah, we do," Luz nodded, "heck, Eda, Asriel and Rayla told us quite a bit about these Primal Energies."
"Primal Sources." Rayla corrected her.
"That's right," Patrick nodded, "of course, while they mentioned about six of them, the one element they said to speak about for a later date was-"
"Dark Magic?" Grobar asked.
"Yeah," Patrick nodded, and then guessed (as did the others) as he looked at the dwarf and the others, "you know more about that, don't you?"
"That's right." the dwarf nodded, "They wouldn't have happened to have drawn the symbol runes of the Primal Sources, did they?"
"Yeah, they did." Patrick replied, as he gave the dwarf the book and turned to the page where Rayla and Asriel did the drawings of the symbols for each of the 7th elemental magic sources.
Grobar looked to the drawings, and then showed the kids the symbol for Dark Magic and explained, "you see, while many mages, like wizards, witches, sorcerers and even warlocks, are able to use the many types of magic, dark magic is the ultimate challenge for those who wish to master over. And like normal magic, as well as humanity, it holds the power to be both a tool to create and a weapon to destroy. It would give those who wish to learn of it a gift of knowledge. And most importantly it would allow those to be given a choice, to take everything it had learned from dark magic and decide which path to follow when using it, as well as the other types of magic - the path of good or the path of evil."
Patrick and the others were amazed when they heard that.
"And from how that symbol looks, it almost reminds us of the Ying-Yang symbol." Callum said, pointing to the Dark Magic symbol.
"That is correct," Alfur said, "for like you, we of the mystic races know much about the meaning of Ying and Yang, the representation of balance, and dark magic is part of it."
"While there is the normal dark magic, there has been a different path of doing dark magic, which I take it you may know as the Dark Arts." Grobar stated.
"Yeah, we know a bit about that…" Luz nodded with the others in reply, until Blinky then spoke.
"And, of course, when dealing with either magic or dark magic, as you would say, there is no such thing as a free lunch," Blinky said, "as learning either types of magic would take weeks, months and even years, whole decades even, to learn magic, both original and dark, especially most mainly for humans. It takes time and patience, a pure heart, a clear mind, and, of course, learning about the different types of magic, and most times during this, they'd be able to learn and do magic, or even find their special connection to it."
"Like what happened with Luz when she learned that light spell to help Eda?" Hilda asked.
"That's right." Rayla nodded.
"Unfortunately, most would find a quicker way to do magic, taking a shortcut by using a dark and twisted method of using dark magic." Blinky then said, and how he said, he spoke a little cold at that, almost like a bad taste in his mouth.
"Thus taken the path of the Dark Arts." Gomgar said.
The others looked uneasy at this, until Taylor took the risk of asking the one question: "What did they do?"
The kids looked and saw their friends of mythical and various fantasy look to one another, before Grobar sighed as he looked to the kids, "In order to learn from the Dark Arts of magic, one was to seek out the Book of Vile Darkness."
The kids' eyes widened with stunned worry.
"B-b-book of Vile Darkness?" Chuckie asked, nervously.
"You mean to tell me it's real?!" Luz said, almost yelling, before remembering to keep it down, and then continued, "That was something that was to be seeked out during our D&D games."
"Oh, it's real, kid." Eda nodded, before muttered aloud, "And using ain't no picnic either."
"Exactly, the Book of Vile Darkness is an extremely dangerous book, used as reference work by evil people." Blinky explained, "Anyone who was down right bad and even some with an evil heart would be able to harness this terrible side of Dark Magic like anything before. It was extremely dangerous to be read by neutral or even good hearted folk."
"Some say that it's so evil, it could stop plant lie to grow, turn solid rock to dust, any food and drink that was next to it to turn rot and stale, and at most times, corrupt any who read it." Sans added.
"Who in their right mind would right something like this?!" Hazel asked.
"No one knows, kiddo." Hogsqueal replied, "But besides the original author of that darn book, anyone can add nasty stuff to it too!"
"But... what sort of things did they learn from reading the book?" Ezran asked, a little concerned, "Did it help them to do magic or something?"
"Oh, yes on both counts," Grobar replied, "it can give anyone who read it enough insight from it's pages, strengthening their powers and, like you asked, gave them a different ability to use magic."
Blinky nodded in agreement on that, as he continued for him.
"They did a cheap, fast, and easy way of casting magic which would always require an act of destruction and consumption to accomplish." Blinky explained, "One example of these gruesome acts… is to do it by stealing the magical energy and essence, the very lifeforce, of all magical and natural creatures."
The human kids were shocked and horrified by this when they heard that.
"That's… that's horrible!" Hilda said, upset by that kind of result.
Blinky nodded in agreement, "As I said, these are unforgiving times."
"Not only that," Rayla then said, "in order to fully do this dark act, one must learn the Dark Speech."
"Dark Speech?" Taylor asked.
"That's right," Rayla nodded, "it's a secret language that evil forces would use, and the trick on doing that was to speak some incantations backwards."
"Backwards?" Ezran asked.
"Sounds a bit tricky if you ask me." Luz replied.
"But what does Dark Magic have to do with that creature Patrick and the others saw?" Taylor asked.
"Well, you see, while some would find a way to make dark magic when doing spells, the 7th element is also shown to exist as actual energy." Grobar stated, "And from that energy, these creatures emerge, taking the form and name of Grimm Shadows." Grobar stated.
"Grimm Shadows?" Luz asked.
"They are creatures made of energy fragments of Dark Magic used improperly," the dwarf explained, "gaining physical form and a life of their own."
"For you see, young masters, when someone who's taken a dark path of using dark magic improperly, and through training, they can harness an ability to create Grimm Shadows," Blinky answered, "these monsters taking form and appearance of animals, with the bulk of them resembling humanoid chameleons with horns and spikes, while others look like large bees, sphere-shaped bats, giant horned eels, and small bulldog-like dinosaurs. Others look like phantom-like wizards, towering cyclops, blobby humanoids and even plants."
"And one of those that you said to have encountered and how you've described it is the common variant of Grimm Shadows: the Shadow Boggart." Grobar then said, "They're the footsoldier and backbone of these terrifying creatures, and they along with any other soulless Grimm Shadow would either fall under the command of any type of dark mage, or roam free to cause chaos, destruction, despair and harm to others."
The kids looked nervous and scared upon hearing this.
"As Blinky said, Grimm Shadows, no matter what type, are among the foulest creatures that walk this or any other realm." Grobar added to the explanation, "They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them... Get too near any Grimm Shadow and every good feeling, every happy memory will be sucked out of you."
"When we came upon that… eh… Shadow Boggart, we felt like everything went cold and the lights started to flicker." Chuckie explained, before feeling a little pale as he added, "And after what you said about them taking away happiness, I don't know if I'll be happy again after that."
"That's their little charm," Eda said, "whether they are, they always have a way to make any environment cold."
"Though, of course, over the years that followed, there have a very small slim sightings of Grimm Shadows," Alfur then said, "in fact, most believe that they're no longer around."
"Until now, probably…" Patrick muttered aloud a bit.
Then Blinky looked to the young humans, before looking around to see if anyone was listening, same with the others (except AAARRRGGHH!), before saying, "Now, understand this, Young Masters, 'cause you'll hear is very important. As I said before, things aren't always what they seem. Not all trolls, goblins and orcs are bad. And not all wizards and witches are good. Some of them could go and change sides."
"Many centuries ago, there was one warlock who went as bad as far as you can go."
"How far?" Ezran asked.
"Far enough to be the one responsible for creating these Grimm Shadows in the first place." Blinky stated, "And his name was M-..." Blinky tried to finish his sentence, but it felt like what he was trying to say was scared and refused to come out, "his name was M-... M..."
"Cragglesnacks, I can't do it!" Blinky said, before taking some long sips of his drink.
"It's alright if you can't, Blinkous." Grobar said to him with comfort.
"Maybe if either of you could write it down?" Chuckie suggested.
"No, none of us can't spell it." Grobar said, before taking a deep breath as he finally said, bringing the others closer a little, "Alright… the warlock's name was…"
What he then just said was a quiet mumble from his lips that none of them could hear..
"What was that?" Patrick asked.
"Mmlthizrr…" the mumble was a little louder, but still hard to hear.
"Yeah, we still can't hear that." Hilda pointed out.
"Just tell us, please!" Callum said, a little stressed with this secrecy as the others, as he gripped the edge of the table.
AAARRRGGHH! seemed to speak without thinking, in a casual voice. "Malthazar."
Comically, Blinky spat out his green drink, spraying some onto Callum, before placing a hand on the big troll's mouth, while the others had mixed reactions of shock and fear upon him saying that name. The few customers sitting near them, and one or two attendants, immediately turned their heads to stare at them accusingly, most with stuness and shocked looks. Awkwardly, Blinky patted AAARRRGGHH! on the shoulder and spoke loudly in a stiff, chuckling voice. "Ha! Yes, very funny, old friend! Good one!"
Playing along, Hogsqeaul turned to a nearby customer, whispering to her behind a hand with a chuckle. "Yeah, he's had a bit too much glug, I'm afraid. Am I right?" The elf didn't seem like she believed him, eyeing AAARRRGGHH! suspiciously, but turned back to her meal and ignored them.
As soon as everyone else glanced away, Blinky, along with the others, stared AAARRRGGHH! down, despite the fact he was a good few feet taller than them. "Not. Helping." He hissed out with gritted teeth.
"Sorry." AAARRRGGHH! apologized, whole face drooping, his green eyes going round and warm like a puppy dog's.
Blinky waited a bit longer, gesticulating for Patrick and his friends to sit closer with the others, Patrick then spoke.
"So, guys, this warlock, Mal-" before he could finish, he was hushed by Blinky and Grobar.
"Be careful, young lad," said Grobar in a hushed, sombre tone, "we do not speak his name aloud."
"It's bad luck." Gomgar added.
"But still, who is he?" Patrick asked.
It was then Blinky's turn to speak in a hushed and somber tone. "You see, Master Patrick, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named hasn't been talked about in quite some time-" He stopped as one troll popped over to him, causing him to look to the nosy fellow, "Do you mind?"
"Whatever…" the troll simply said, as he walked away, allowing Blinky to speak again… only to notice the nosy troll had walked over to the other side to overhear, much to his annoyance. He then gave him a stern, stink eye, resulting in the troll rolling his eyes as he walked away grumbling, "Fine."
"Whoa, so he's alot like Voldemort?" Chuckie asked, which raised some eyebrows from their mystical friends.
"Voldy-wart?" Blinky asked.
"No, Voldemort," Taylor corrected before she explained, "an evil wizard from the Harry Potter book series, who's name is also feared to be mentioned in the wizarding world."
The mystical friends looked at each other, before looking back at the kids, "Forgive us to say that we don't quite understand this Volde-fellow you're talking about." Eda said.
"But if you wish to know the truth about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, we must warn you that there's no going back." Blinky stated.
Patrick and the others looked at each other, while they all had nervous, worried and concerned looks, they looked to Patrick as a way of saying that they were ready to take the risk.
"We wish to know, guys." Patrick replied, "We like to know who is-" he stopped to make sure no one was listening, before whispering carefully, "Malthazar."
Their mystical friends looked at each other, and agreed to tell, as Grobar started first.
"Very well, my boy… of course to learn of You-Know-Who, we must learn from the very beginning…" Grobar said, before speaking in a hushed and somber tone, making sure it wasn't too loud, yet loud enough for just the kids to hear.
"Many centuries ago, long before the amulet was forged, there was a mighty and powerful sorcerer, so powerful and wise, his magic and powers could shake the very cosmos. Many who reside in the many realms who saw and heard of him-" Grobar did one final glance all around to make sure no one else was listening. "-learned of the seven Primal Elements of magic that he possessed, including the magic energies of the Stars, Sun, Moon, Sky, Ocean, Earth and Dark Magic."
"Though wise and powerful, he was shown as a lone hermit, until one day, upon journeying to this realm, he encountered 7 young children, who, like him, had a bit of magic within each of them, and showed him kindness, generosity and friendship. As a token of thanks for their kindness, he gifted a portion of his infinite magical abilities to the children, in which he helped teach them how to use their new gifts of magic."
"Hold up," Eda spoke up for a second, before scurrying through her hair, until she got out a book of sorts, the title read, 'The Secret Xadador Histories and Lore', "a little something to help out on this story-telling."
Most of the group looked a little surprised that Eda had kept this, but still, the dwarf nodded in thanks for that (Blinky nodded too, but weary), before opening the book to the page they wanted to show.
"These are the 7 children that would change both the magic and mortal worlds forever," Blinky explained, as he proudly introduced them, "The Original Olde 7 Mages."
The kids looked and saw on the pages the book was seven images of grown children, at the age of teenagers/young adults, all humans, some in different shapes and sizes, different genders and even different skin colours, all dressed in different types of uniforms.
Between them, 3 of them were on the top, and 4 of them were on the bottom.
The kids looked as Blinky pointed to the top 3, no doubt they were very important.
The first one shown in the middle, male, had a fair skin tone with messy brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a green tunic with a tan undershirt, a blue cape and black trousers with brown boots. Both his tunic and cape were outlined with golden markings. Over this, he wore metal armor held by brown belts and straps.
The second on the right, was a female with fair skin, pale platinum blonde hair and light blue eyes. She wore most of her hair in a half up-done bun style, with a small, simple bun on the top, and the remainder of her long, straight hair hanging at the bottom. Most of her bangs were tied back, barring several large locks that framed her face to her left.
She wore a white, two piece dress consisting of a sleeveless, diagonally overlapping white backless pleated top with a raised, pale blue halter-top square collar adorned with an aquamarine colored rhombus-shaped crystal on the clavicle, surrounded by two smaller white rhombuses. Her long, high-waisted skirt was white with a faint purple tint - adorned with white diamond emblems and white wavy lines near the bottom hem, ruffled around the waist and completed with a purple sash. For accessories, she wore gray, circular earrings, a pair of dull brown bracers, and a thin leather strip that held a similar gem, and her long fingernails were painted pale lilac.
If noticed carefully, she also has on faint purple heeled flats obscured by the skirt.
The third on the left was another male, with a normal white complexion, and his hair was black, with some gray areas, while his eyebrows were solid black. He looked quite tall, like about 6'6" (1.98 meters), with a bit of muscle.
What he wore was a little similar to the first one's outfit, only he wore a dark blue tunic and had a blood red cape.
When looking at the four at the bottom, it showed a pattern of boy/girl/boy/girl.
The first was a tall, broad-framed young man with a darker skin tone, with beefy arms marred with scars, presumed to be from battles. He boasted a light blue tattoo on his chin and neat dark brown hair, with two bangs draped in front of his ears.
He wore a beige-white and white tunic under a thick, sleeveless fur vest with a metal owl brooch pinned on it. Two sheaths hung from his thick waistband, one behind his waist, and the other at his left side. He also wore two grey fur wristbands.
The young woman next to him was Caucasion, with frizzled, ginger hair, who wore a light grey shirt that went halfway down her forearms with a leather vest over it, a hollow horn attached to her waist and an off-white skirt underneath. She wore brown pants, wristbands, and boots with decorative roping. All of her clothing was patched and bore a generally unneat, rough look.
The next young man was medium dark skinned, had platinum blond hair. He at first wore a white tank top, leather gloves and boots, and brown pants, along with a blue sash tied around his waist and a pendant with a green jewel.
The young woman next to him was tanned skinned, with shorted white hair and dark blue eyes, while her uniform was quite a bit similar to the one worn by the first young woman, only more black and grey instead of brown.
"Are they them?" Hilda asked.
"Yup," Sans nodded, "the children that that sorcerer guy gave most of the magic to."
"The Original 7 Olde Mages." Eda explained, as she smirked, "These kids were quite lucky to be gifted with that kind of power."
Grobar nodded as introduced them, revealing their names, starting the young man in the top middle, "These young mages, were Merlin Tarak," next, the young woman next to him on his right, "Veronica Rosalind," he then pointed to the four kids at the bottom, and named them respectfully, "Allard Ebonywood, Tallulah Garnet, Jett Gale, Amaryllis Shadowwalker," and finally to the muscular male on Merlin's left, "and… Malthazar Jebediah."
"And of all 7 of these young mages, 3 of them were chosen to be the sorcerer's very own apprentices." Alfur said, as he pointed to the 3 young mages, "Merlin, Veronica and…" he then whispered the last name, "Malthazar."
"I take it that those three were very special?" Hilda asked.
"Oh, indeed, they were, Miss Hilda." Grobar said with a small smile, he and Blinky nodding in agreement.
"Long ago, those three, along with the others, were the closest of friends for a long time," Eda stated, "ever since childhood, even before their magic was awakened."
"So they were best friends, like us." Luz asked.
"Indeed," Alfur nodded, "of course, Merlin, Veronica and Malthazar were the most powerful mages in the world out of the 7, and they were like the sun, the moon and the stars, thus they became the mages of the elemental magic they were based upon."
Hilda looked to the images of the friends when they were young, and understood what Alfur ment when looking at the symbols they each had, "So Merlin was a Star Mage, Veronica, a Moon Mage, and…" she stopped a second and then muttered for a brief bit, "Malthazar…" then spoke again, "was a Sun Mage."
"Correct-o-mundo," King said, as he turned the page, revealing the 7 mages, including the three friends, only this time wearing different outfits, "throughout the times even after gaining their role as a wizard, sorcerer, witch and warlock, they always remained the closest of friends."
The kids looked at the Olde 7, and were amazed by how different they looked from when they first saw them on the last page.
Starting with one of the powerful 3, Merlin. When seeing what Merlin wore, Patrick and the others thought he looked like a very young Gandalf the Grey (just not a very old man), wearing a tall pointed grey hat, a long grey cloak, and a silver scarf. He also wore on top of the cloak a green suit of knight's armor, complete with a breastplate (the chest area), pauldrons (the shoulder areas), and vambraces (the forearm areas) that could be barely seen under the cloak's long sleeves. Etched on the center of the breastplate was the star magic symbol, coloured in lavender and trimmed with gold.
He held in his right hand a large black staff with white trimmings and a big lime-green emerald at the center.
Veronica wore a very long, short-sleeved dark purple robe that obscured her feet and partially dragged across the ground, with its distinctive feature being a curved high collar with white trim bordering the outer edge of a narrow window exposing her bust in a vertical ellipsis resembling an eye, and completed with a long shawl emblazoned with the symbol for the moon magic, coloured in silver.
Held in her hand was an ornate brown staff with metal details, a floral pattern, and adorned with an amethyst gem.
They saw that Allard had a good change in both wardrobe and his hair, the latter tied back as a locs ponytail. He wore a white cloak with circular concentric circle designs on it.
Tallulah went from wearing rags to a laced waist-cincher over a long blue tunic with a dark grey hemline that fell over a dark teal skirt that also had the same grey hem. The tunic opened in a 'v' to reveal an off-white folded collar. The long sleeves were also cinched just above the elbows. All three cinches and the hem were the same dark grey as the hooded cloak Tallulah was also wearing. Her boots were dark brown. In addition, she wore a dark blue skull necklace.
Jett also had a change of wardrobe, as he wore a more regal attire, featuring a dark grey coat with black shoulder pads along with details in light blue and dark blue cuffs. Under his coat, he wore a dark blue dress shirt with light blue linings and details and donned white gloves upon his hands. He also wore grey pants and black shoes.
In his hand, was a cane, the handle having a smoky quartz gem embedded at the top, with a pattern of wavy lines around the cane.
Amaryllis wore a black, long-sleeved armor shirt with gold embroidery on the chest area. A circlet-like crown laid underneath her bangs, with an indigo circle in the center and pins sticking out at the top, as well as another, differently colored part of hair coming out from the back of the crown. The hair was dyed in a blue-black color and shaded off into a clearer, yellowish color at the end of each strand, both of which were tied at the end. Finally, a black sword was carried on her back, a weapon that fit her color palette, and was one-handed.
She had a silver ornamented staff with an orange spearhead-shaped crystal on top. It also featured a smaller crystal on the bottom.
And lastly, Malthazar wore tattered robes of sorts, a wolf skinned hooded cloak, the head of the wolf being the hood and light armor that were adorned with bones and feathers. He also wore a few pouches tied to his belt, and a pendant around his neck, which had the symbol for the sun magic, coloured in light orange.
His staff was formed long, silver and ornate, with a red gem embedded in the center, while a brown part marks a grip area (if used). The top of the scepter incorporated a style of a broken ouroboros, showing a sculpture of a spiralling serpent-like creature swallowing a world. Within the sculpture was a small crystal. It's lower end was pointed and sharp, meaning it could have been possibly used as a stabbing weapon.
As the human kids looked at the images of these ancient friends, they listened to Blinky as he continued, "These three, along with the other four chosen, under the guidance of the sorcerer, helped and acted as guides for humanity and the mystical races. To learn the seven primal elements and bring balance to both races."
"And soon, Merlin, Veronica and Malthazar, thanks to the strong bond they had and the years of training together with him, became the sorcerer's chosen apprentices." Grobar added.
"And through those years, the great sorcerer taught the three friends everything he knew, and entrusted them all of his secrets…" Blinky then solemnly spoke, words filled with grief, nervousness and sadness, "He should have trusted only two."
"What… happened, exactly?" Chuckie gulped.
"That's… something that left a horrible taste for everyone back then." Eda stated.
She then took a quick look behind her if anyone was listening in, then returned to the others once it was clear, "While the others were able to learn and master not only the magic they were born with, but also the magic they were gifted by the sorcerer, Malthazar was the only who took the longest to master magic on his own."
"It wasn't until sometime later, that he finally mastered magic," Alfur said solemnly, "but it wasn't the kind his friends, nor anyone else, hoped him to master."
Luz looked nervous, until she spoke, "It was the bad usage of Dark Magic, wasn't it?"
"The Dark Arts?" Ezran added.
Alfur nodded, as the kids begin to understand the serious situation that was at hand.
"Malthazar discovered the Book of Vile Darkness, didn't he?" Patrick asked.
"That's right." Alfur nodded, "In fact, this type of Dark Magic of the Dark Arts, he would sometimes call it Dark Magix. He even added it into that book as well."
"Weird… but deep." Chuckie responded.
"Yeah… it was dark times, guys, very dark times." Hogsqueal then spoke.
In the ancient past, Malthazar, staff in hand, walked across the forests in the dark of night, and as he walked, small creatures hid in fear as he passed, like a terrifying ghost or the entity Death itself was walking upon the earth.
"After mastering these cheap, fast ways of casting this kind of magic, Malthazar began to fall deep." Hogsquael added, feeling nervous explaining this, "He started to change, becoming addicted to this easy, fast short cut of dark magic, this… dark magix, as they called it… so much that even when anyone saw his ways and ideals being wrong, he saw them as blind and arrogant threats."
Malthazar soon arrived upon a village nearby, and when one of the villagers saw him, instead of greeting him with kindness, he started to grow cold and terrified, and ran as he warned in panic of his arrival.
"He started to gather some followers, brought 'em over to the dark side. Anyone that stood up to him ended up dead."
Malthazar started attacking the village, who was home to a few mages, wizards and witches, as they tried to fight back, only to be killed, one by one, as this happened, one of the witches holding a child, no doubt a mother, puts down her son as she tells him to run, before trying to use a spell to attack the slowly-going-rogue warlock.
"Many tried to fight against him, but nobody lived once he decided to kill 'em.'' The mother soon screamed in pain as she was killed by Malthazar's staff. Dark red flashes are seen from the distance of the village, as the young boy looked back to the village attacked by the warlock, and then continued running, tears running down his face, "Nobody...not one. 'Cept any who were lucky to escape."
Later on, Jett is seen fighting who was once one of his friends, as he tried to defend a town from Malthazar's rampage.
"When most of the Olde 7 learned that someone was attacking innocents, both mortal and magical, but of all that they had learned…" Eda said, who then sighed sadly.
The warlock brings up his staff, and conjures a red beam from it. Jett uses his cane, which was also a sceptre, to counter Malthazar's attack, launching a blue beam. Their attacks clash, engulfing the area into a bright white flash.
The white light vanished, revealing the aftermath of the bloodied fight, as their battle caused the town to be destroyed in the process. Jett weakly crawls away leaving a trail of blood on the ground. Malthazar, having won the battle, angrily and exhaustedly walked over to Jett. He kicked him over onto his back and held him down with his foot.
He then raised his staff in the air, dark energy powering up, and let out a cold, sinister grin, as Jett could do nothing as a blast of fire engulfed him, killing him.
"They never prepared to fight one of their own." Eda finished.
Sometime later, Malthazar returns to a home where his friends are, with pride on his face, as if he had done something triumphant. His expression changed when he saw the looks on their faces. Veronica filled with horror, tears running down her cheeks and hands covering her mouth, while Merlin was furious, as if he just learned of something his friend did that he shouldn't have done.
"Horrified and shocked by the actions they have heard and seen, Merlin and Veronica urged Malthazar to abandon the path he was slowly spiralling down." Blinky explained next, "When he refused, they alerted the coexisting races of the warlock's intentions."
Later on, the three slowly-becoming former friends stood on top of a hill, as they came face-to-face with two very large dragons, one amber scales, red wings, and a light underside. He sported glowing blue eyes, red tufts of fur on his elbows and tail, dark brown claws, horns that resemble rays of sunlight, and a mane of white hair above his neck.
The other dragon was the same size, but with lime eyes, orange scales, dark yellow underside, claws, and a mane of white hair that grew from his chin and neck. His head sported multiple protruding horns. He also had spikes jutting out from each of his elbows.
"When confronted about these crimes to one of the dragon kings, Sol Regem, and one of his loyal servants, Asper Censura, Malthazar was given an ultimatum…" said Grobar, "one that would change everything for the worst…"
"Malthazar refused to stop his dark arts, and reduce humans back to being 'lesser beings' with no access to magic. In response, one of Sol Regem's loyal servants, Asper Censura, threatened to destroy a nearby city where the ultimatum took hold."
The orange dragon, Asper Censura, roared before taking off, against his king and the humans' pleas. Seeing several magical birds fly by, Malthazar slammed his staff's end into the ground beneath him as he screamed, creating a dark tornado, which then sucked in the birds and harvested their essence, all against Merlin and Veronica's pleas.
Seeing this, Sol Regem (who was chasing Asper to stop him from doing the terrible task of destroying the nearby human city) and Asper flew back to the hill, as Asper tried to attack the warlock.
The dark magic flowed through Malthazar, as his eyes turned black, and spawned a ball of fire from his hand. Merlin and Veronica tried to fight back, but they were no match for the rogue warlock.
As Asper fired a breath of fire towards them, Malthazar shot his fireball to the dragon, only to see the wave of fire hurtling towards the group.
Veronica suddenly shoved him out of the way, as she used all her power to stop the wave, but it was fighting back. As she looked back, she saw Merlin, misty eyed, shaking his head as a way to tell her not to do this and cease. A tear rolling down her eye, Veronica let out a small sad smile, before using a magic spell to teleport the wizard and the warlock to safety, pushing them away from the hill, before the flames engulfed her.
Malthazar's fireball, meanwhile, as it shot towards Asper, Sol Regem pushed him out of the way, only to get hit by it in the eyes, blinding the dragon king.
At the bottom of the hill, Merlin and Malthazar could only watch in horror, as the top of the hill was left ablaze.
"This ultimatum came at a terrible cost that day." Blinky said, "The destruction of the human city, the loss of family… and the death of a friend."
Upon hearing this dark past, Patrick's group had mixed feelings of worry, shock and fear.
"Malthazar blamed Merlin for what happened to Veronica that day," Grobar said, "that along with ideological differences resulted in a great war of magic between the two."
Blinky then turned a few pages, and the kids looked and saw on two pages two images.
One was of Malthazar, head looking down, and arms stretched out forward, energies of his own dark magic, at the centre of it being the symbol that Patrick, Chuckie and the twins saw at the museum.
The other image on the other page was of Merlin once more, only this time, while still had the same uniform he had when he was young, he was at the age of an old man with the stereotypical white beard, a sort-of small, box shaped nose, his black eyebrows shown a bit thick and white hair with white sideburns on the sides of his head. Above him, his hand raised up to it, was the Amulet of Xadador.
Patrick, meanwhile, had a good look of Merlin, as he felt like he saw this image before. As in the museum, back in the medieval section, he remembered seeing a portrait of him standing side-by-side with King Arthur, proud smiles upon their faces, no doubt the signs of a strong friendship.
"I take it that you recognize this symbol, don't you, Master Patrick?" Blinky asked, getting Patrick's attention, as he pointed to Malthazar's page that had the symbol.
"Yes, that's the one!" Patrick nodded.
"What exactly is this symbol?" Luz asked, having a look at it, "It reminds me of the Caduceus and/or the Rod of Asclepius."
"That, my friends, is the symbol for the Cabal of the Jabberwocky." Grobar explained.
"The Cabal of the… Jabberwocky?" Callum asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's right, Callum," Eda replied, "named after one of the most dangerous creatures to ever exist in these realms."
"Are you saying the Jabberwocky is real?!" Hilda asked in shock and surprise, remembering when she, Luz and Patrick discussed the sword that Patrick had when they first learned about the secret mystical world and her brother's new role as a Paladin.
"Yep, and that terrifying beast can give the Skeksis a run for their money." Eda replied.
What Eda said stunned the kids hard, as Patrick shook his head and said, "Wait, the Skeksis?! But that's impossible, they're characters from the Dark Crystal!"
"First the gremlins, then you mention that both Jabberwocky and Skeksis are real too?!" Luz asked for the others, demanding a bit of answers.
The mythical friends looked at each other, some of them smirked at the kids' bafflement, before Alfur came forward to explain, "Well, from what we understand, it used to be common knowledge."
None of the kids expected that answer, as Taylor asked, "Excuse us?"
"How do you think all those myths, legends, fairy tales and stories you've all enjoyed got started?" Grobar chuckled, "Even the craziest ones come from somewhere."
"While I am curious to know more about that, we should focus on the point at hand." Patrick said, "What exactly is the Cabal of the Jabberwocky?"
"It was an Inner Circle formed by Malthazar, who recruited his own followers into this terrifying cult," Blinky then said, as the troll pointed back to Malthazar's image, "bent on creating a new dark order, most of it mainly through the Dark Arts, formed of huge numbers at his command, not only witches and wizards who mastered the Dark Arts, as well as thugs and bandits, but all sorts of dark creatures. Like beholders, vampires, yuan-ti, minotaurs…"
"Even the Dumm-Dumms." Hilda said.
"Exactly!" Blinky nodded.
"Correct there, kid." Sans added.
"And Merlin?" Ezran asked.
"Well, that's where things get interesting," Rayla smirked, "as Merlin, the Amulet and a Jabberwocky are connected in this next part."
Blinky nodded as he explained, "You see, for the time, it was mostly Merlin facing against You-Know-Who, but as his opponent began to gather his army, Merlin figured that he couldn't do it alone, and in his quest to find a champion, a Jabberwocky attacked where he was currently residing."
"Many tried to slay the beast, but no weapon was powerful and strong enough to kill it." Rayla pointed out. "Until Merlin gained an idea."
"Using what remained of Veronica, Merlin used both their magic, along with most of the magic from Xadador, to forge the very amulet that you now wield, Master Patrick." Blinky added, looking to Patrick, who then got out the amulet for a moment.
"And as the Warlock got inspired by the beast he named the Cabal after, Merlin created a weapon that would slay said beast." he added, and Patrick instantly knew what it was.
"The Vorpal Sword." Patrick replied.
"Indeed," Alfur explained, "for when the first Paladin rose up to protect the realms, he learned that Merlin found a way of creating the very weapon that alone can kill the Jabberwocky. Forged along with the Amulet, Merlin created the Vorpal Sword as a means to bring hope to the realms."
"So, while Merlin became more famous thanks to his amulet, what happened with Mr. Anti-Merlin?" Chuckie asked.
"Nasty business," AAARRRGGHH responded, feeling uncomfortable, "very bad…"
"Indeed, my gentle giant friend, for over time, Malthazar became a being of dread, despise and fear," Grobar said, "given names, not just of 'You-Know-Who' or 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named', but also as 'The Evil M', 'The Dark Warlock', 'M the Cruel', 'The Warlock King', 'The Sorcerer Scourge', 'The Nowhere King', 'The Sorrow of Goodwill' and even 'The Emperor Lich' to name a few."
"Wasn't he also 'Malthazar the Butch?'" Callum sarcastically joked, while keeping the Warlock's name on a low note.
"Why, yes. Yes he was, as a matter of fact." Blinky smiled, much to Callum's bafflement, seeing that sarcastic joke backfired a little.
Patrick then looked at the wise troll and dwarf and asked, "Whatever happened to Merlin and… You-Know-Who?"
"The last time we saw and/or heard of either of them was what would have been believed to be their final battle." Grobar explained, "Their confrontation shook the very rock, sending mountains falling into the sea and tidal waves crashing over tropical islands, until Merlin triumply defeated You-Know-Who, banishing him to the Nowhere."
"The Nowhere?" Ezran asked.
"It's one of the well-known names of the Shadowfell, young Ezran." Grobar helped explain.
"That's where the Dumm-Dumms got banished, right?" Luz remembered.
"That's right," Blinky nodded, "Merlin made the ultimate sacrifice, using all of his magic to banish his opponent to the Shadowfell, along with some of his followers, Koroglugg and the rest of the Dumm-Dumms, hoping that the warlock would spend the rest of his life there, hopefully until death."
"Though, of course, as he was banished, You-Know-Who issued a final prophecy," Grobar added, as he spoke what the Dark Warlock said, "'Life and Death are but doorways. Time is but a window. I'll be back.'"
"And the Cabal?"
"It was said that they were defeated and disbanded, or even destroyed, after You-Know-Who's banishment." Blinky said, "Disappeared into the darkest parts of history…"
"Until now, also." Patrick stated.
"Perhaps… though we can't say for certain." Blinky said, as he gestured his hand to the others as a sign to follow him out of the pub. It would probably be best to continue their conversation somewhere more private, as it was getting a little more busy, and almost felt like they could be watched or listened to at that moment. Patrick and the others felt like it maybe would be best to press further somewhere else.
Luz was getting out of her seat, until she noticed Chris looking out in a distance to… somewhere.
"Chris?" she said, getting his attention, "You coming?"
"Oh, uh… sure," Chris nodded, a little awkwardly, "I'll catch up in a second."
Unsure for the moment, Luz let him be alone and went up to the others.
Chris, then looked back to where he was looking at… and the figure was still there, sitting at the corner.
The figure in question was sitting alone in the dark corner not far from where they were, and Chris noticed that he was staring during half of the conversation.
From the way he looked, he was a young man, no doubt in his 20s.
The figure was shrouded in a hooded cape, though parts of his uniform could be seen, consisting of dark brown leather armor with plated shin, boot, and forearm guards as well as a mint-green scarf around his neck and black trousers. Additionally, he wore two light brown belts around his waist, with another one extending into a shoulder plate protecting his left shoulder. A slim bag is attached to his lowest belt.
Although his face was unseen by the hood that was brought up, the candlelight on the table he was at shone on the lower part of his face, showing he had dark skin, a big nose, and a three-day beard. And was seemingly smoking an old long wood pipe.
He looked to one member of staff, a waitress, and asked, "Excuse me, that man in the corner, who is he?"
The waitress looked at the hooded figure at the corner, then looked back to Chris as she replied, "He's one of them rangers. Dangerous folk they are, sometimes… wandering in the wild. What little I've heard around here, he's known as Corvus."
As the waitress left, Chris looked back at that ranger, still sitting at the corner, before starting to leave to join the others, warely keeping his eye on him until he was out of sight.
The ranger, meanwhile, just sat there and looked, as the boy left, while he continued to smoke his pipe a little, the dim light of the embers revealing his hazel coloured eyes and a scar stretching across his eye socket and eyebrow.
Back with the others, as he passed by the counter, Blinky pulled out a few coins from his pouch and dropped them on the counter for the bartender to collect.
"These are the very reasons I doubt your certainty." he said to Patrick, once more in a quiet tone as they were nearing the exit, "I don't question you saw a bridge, but Ragnarok Bridge? It would take years to collect all of the stones." He rethought, "Decades, even. You would need an army of changelings or something else like that."
"I know what I saw, Blinky," Patrick furrowed his eyebrows, and thought aloud (quietly of course to avoid attention), "and maybe, it's possible someone must have found some of the pieces, not just changelings, but maybe a member or two from this Cabal? I mean, Ghoular's one of the Dumm-Dumms who escaped exile, so it's possible the same could be said about that warlock's army too."
"These are indeed serious accusations, Master Patrick." Blinky said, with concern, "But without proof, absolute bedlam will ensue."
As Chris joined up, Luz sighed, exasperated, as she said "Well, we have to tell someone. This is our home, too."
"Like who? The Police?" Callum responded sarcastically, "That'll go well. 'Uh, hey, 911? There's an evil army of trolls, orges, and orcs about to take over the world by releasing an ancient warlock from imprisonment from a bridge. Okay thanks. Bye!'"
"We really gonna say that?." Raph stated to Callum, who groaned.
"I was being sarcastic, Raph!"
"I love sarcasm." Rayla smirked, "It's like punching people in the face but with words."
"Guys, focus," Patrick said, before adding, "though Callum is right, it'll be hard to tell anyone about this, our parents, the police, not even our psychologist."
"That's right," Taylor nodded weary, "we may be on our own for this one."
Before anyone else could speak, they were interrupted by Scaly McDaddy Issues blocking their exit.
"Well, well, if it isn't the piece of flesh I'll pound into pancakes this week." Kriv smirked as he slammed his fist into his open claws.
"Kriv, now's not the time for trash talk." Patrick grumbled to him, "We need to get going, anyway."
"If you insist," Kriv grinned, "I'll look forward to your pain later on and I'll drink to your death."
"Sure, fine, if you say-wait, what?!" Patrick said, before double taking on his words after what the Dragonborn just said.
"D-did you just say 'death'?"
"I did." Kriv smiled, crossing his arms across his chest. He feigned shock, as if he were worried about Patrick's health. "Oh? You didn't know?"
Patrick, face filled with fear, quickly turned to Blinky, "What is he talking about? I thought this was only a rematch!"
"To challenge a Dragonborn's honor can only end in ruin." Blinky explained, "It's all right there in chapter three of A Brief Recap-" the six-eyed troll stopped in realization, before looking at Patrick with stern annoyance as he said, "You still haven't read the book."
Patrick spaced out a little, with his expression morphing deeper into pain and regret by the second.
"What about Hilda?!" he cried, "Surely she would have known, I mean, she read the book!"
"Only a bit about the Elves." Hilda said, before annoyingly added, "Don't bring me into this."
"You should have read the book." Alfur added, shaking his head in disappointment.
Patrick then looked back to Kriv, as he tried to find a way out of this mess, "Now, hold on. This fight, I don't know, maybe we can, um, postpone it?"
"Postpone, you say?" Kriv barked out a laugh, looking at Blinky, "What a trainer! Does everyone in your company forget how to fight?" He shot a pointed look at AAARRRGGHH! as he said that, earning a grumbled snort from the big troll.
"Please can you just give him one punch in the snout?" Callum groaned as he begged a little.
"Paci-"
"I know, I know… Pacifist." Callum grumbled, "I swear, whoever introduced you to the meaning of Pacifist, I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind…"
Patrick then tried to explain the bigger situation, hoping that it would help postpone the fight, "There are things that have been brought to our attention, Kriv. Things that have serious implications."
Blinky, wide-eyed, realized what he was about to do and say, before harshly whispering in panic, "No, no, no, Master Patrick! Shh!"
Kriv just grumbled, before looking at Patrick with a serious look, "By Bahamut's honor, I would have made your death swift and painless," he then added more salt to the wound as he added, "but, for that act of COWARDICE, I will show you no mercy when I take back what's RIGHTFULLY mine!" He then headed off, before looking back for a second to the Paladin as he said, "Bid farewell to your loved ones, Patrick the 'Dead Meat.'"
Patrick looked stunned with a mixture of fear, worry and sadness, as his sisters and friends went up to him with worry and concern, as he gulped, "I'm going to die this week."
Meanwhile, back at the Museum…
"It wasn't my fault, okay?!" Simon growled, as he, Grace and Curator Hanami were talking with Valron about the incident earlier, the former angrily trying to explain what had happened, "Those brats turned them on us!"
"Simon, it's alright," Grace calmed him down, before looking to Valron, "but he has a point, those gremlins were supposed to help out in covering our tracks with the goblins, not lead them to us."
"Don't worry," Valron said to the three of them, a calm smile on his face, "I will see to it that the mess is… cleaned up."
Valron then led them to the room where the bridge was at… and the three looked worried at the company that was there.
Standing nearby, sharpening one of his swords with his stony arm, was Ghoular, who took notice of them when they entered.
Along with him was Mokdu, and beside him were several of the gremlins, Redcap and the goblins, and along them were a simple-minded race of animalistic orc or goblin-like creatures, some of them that almost mainly looked like the goblins from Labyrinth, as well as the minions from Sleeping Beauty, as they all turned and looked to the arriving Tieflings and Changelings.
Along with them were four cloaked figures, two female figures, dressed in a very pitch black hooded cloak, while the other, a male, wore a dark brown hooded duster jacket.
The fourth, who was also male, also wore a black hooded cloak, and wore a pointed two-faceted light silver mask with a thin slot across it.
"I'm sorry you've been compromised." Valron said with a smile, though the others growled a little as they realized what he set them up for for their failure: execution.
Ghoular soon approached them, sword in claw, as Hanami looked nervous, one of the swords brought up to her as she pleaded, "Please, Ghoular! Forgive us! Spare us!"
"Grovelling, Tiefling?" Ghoular said, as he approached her, as he then brought another sword up to Grace, much to Simon's worry.
"Listen to her, Ghoular!" Grace cried, "You need us! And if you dispose of us, who are you gonna replace?!"
"The boy and his friends know what we really are," Hanami added, "how long do you think they'll find out Valron is a Tiefling, let alone his brother being one too?!"
"They both have good points." Gargo spoke up a little.
"See, he gets it." Simon said.
"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll cross that bridge when we get there…" Valron said, with less interest of the nervous victims, before eyeing them as he added, "without you."
"Don't do this." Simon said.
"I can and I will," Valron stated, "and I suggest that you remember that your lot are replaceable…" he then smirked as he added, "Impures."
The moment he said that word, Simon's eyes grew wide, not of fear… but of anger, his breathing became heavy, his heart beating faster, and while at swordpoint, Grace looked nervous as her friend started to growl an angry breath.
It was bad enough for Tieflings to be called impure… but for a changeling, it was a major insult, a stereotypical word that could hurt a changeling's feelings… even to the brink of anger.
"Say that again!" Simon shouted, before charging at Valron to punch him… who then held out a skull of what could have been a cyclops, as it glowed a dark blue, sending out a barrier that knocked Simon back to the ground.
"Not bad, eh?" Valron smirked, holding up the skull, "Cyclops shield. Allows the user to protect themselves from any attacks."
Simon just growled, "Put down that stupid shield and say it again!"
"Not if you want your friends to be sliced sushi." Valron grinned, before nodding to Ghoualr to attack both females.
The troll slashed his swords at them, as Hanami and Grace did their best to dodge his attacks, the troll knocking over a box or two out of his path, however, as Hanami managed to escape, Grace was left in a corner, and Ghoular was ready to make the kill.
Simon watched in fear as this happened, as did one of the hooded females, though the other looked away, and the hooded male let out a small, creepy giggle at what was happening. The masked figure, meanwhile, just stood there and watched what was happening.
Simon then looked at one of the boxes and remembered something, and grabbed out had nearly fallen out of one of the fallen boxes.
Ghoular raised his sword at Grace, and was just halfway bringing it down on her, until Simon stood in the way, holding something in his hand.
The object in question was a circular object made of twisted metal, having spiky poison green crystals on it.
"WAIT!" He cried, stopping the troll in his tracks, "We have required a fetch!"
"A fetch?" Valron asked, raising an eyebrow, "You think Horvath would wish to bring forth more of your impure kind?"
Simon sneered at this, all the while protecting Grace from meeting a deadly end.
"For once I agree with the Tiefling," Ghoular said, lowering his swords, "we are almost halfway finished with the bridge. Malthazar will be free. What good would it be to want another-?"
His question was cut short, as two Shadow Boggarts appeared, earning a bit of fear and worry (with the exception again from the cloaked male and masked figure) as they prowled around, until stepping away, revealing Horvath entering the room, looking quite calm with a smile on his face, as he had in his hand a staff of his own.
The staff in question was long, silver and ornate, with a dark blue gem embedded in the centre, while a brown part marks a grip area. It appeared to be the length of a regular cane, while its lower end was pointed and sharp.
As he entered, everyone present remained quiet, though few looked a little nervous when he came in, especially as he had that calm smile, Featherfang then flew in and landed nearby, as the young warlock calmly spoke, "So… we're all here, eh?" Mokdu scurried over to a nearby crate and sat there, looking innocent with a chirpy smile (though deep down nervous if he was in trouble), as Horvath just looked around and smiled, "Good."
As Ghoular lowered his weapons, and the two changelings and Hanami stepped away from him, they looked as the young warlock reached the centre of the room, and simply replied, "Now, if you pardon my plain speaking, friends," he then shrugged, "but are you all…" he stated as he tapped the staff/cane on the ground with the lower end, causing it to unfold itself, revealing its full length, which measured over six feet, before he angrily shouted bloody murder, making everyone (except Ghoular, Featherfang and the cloaked male) flinch in fear as he yelled, "STARK RAVING, TOTALLY BLINKING DAFT!?"
As he shouted that, he shot balls of dark energy from his gloved hand, knocking down crates and boxes (as well as knocking down several minions, goblins and gremlins) and unleashed bolts of electricity from his staff, zapping the rest of the minions, frightening them as they jolted in panic to hide from his wrath, even Featherfang was a little nervous seeing him so frustrated.
"I leave you blasted lot for a small minimum of time, and not only do I learn that most of my experiment projects have fled, but I also learn that the bridge has been discovered! Under your watch!" Horvath growled angrily, as he raised his gloved hand, as it glowed it's sinister aura, reacting to his anger, only for the young warlock to wince in pain a little, as he quickly held on to his gloved hand, almost like he was in a little bit of pain after unleashing his fury with that outburst.
Horvath (eventually) calmed down a little, as he angrily, yet calmly, looked to his minions.
Ghoular just huffed as he looked to his young master a snarky look, "So much for stating 'the best hiding place is in plain sight'."
This resulted with Horvath pointing his staff at the troll as he snarled, "Don't think you're off the hook, you snarling wretch! You and Valron are just as bad as she is!" He pointed to one of the cloaked females as he said that last part, causing her to lower her head a little, feeling a little guilty.
"But Horvath," Valron spoke up, getting the young warlock's attention, "it wasn't our fault! Hanami and those impures were the ones that allowed the Paladin and some of his friends to see what we're up to."
"I wasn't just referring to him and his friends," Horvath snarled, "I was very much referring to the two guards that I've heard got served to Ghoular on a plate!"
Valron and Ghoular realized what he meant, then they heard a smirking squawk from Featherfang, who had a smug on his beak, before both troll and tiefling learned he had secretly snitched on them.
"Not to mention that Ghoular tried that again," Horvath continued, "nearly killing two people who were at our temporal base of operations!"
Ghoular growled at this before looking back at Horvath, hoping to make an excuse of sorts or something, "Those fools were sniffing about!"
"And while we can't have them doing that, we cannot kill them… not yet, at least!"
"Listen, those two are just simple mortals," Ghoular complained, "they're aren't very important."
"Well, once more, you fail to see that those mortals, like those two guards, Nathan and Helen for example, they are very important… to their families and friends," Horvath said, as he held up the IDs of the deceased night guards that the troll gobbled up and Grace and Simon having to take their place, and as Horvath spoke, he's calm demeanour slowly grew into anger as he continued, "because by the time those would have finished their shifts, they would have returned home to the people they know and love. Only, thanks to you, that won't happen, because sooner or later, their friends and family would grow worried and suspicious, then, over time, they would alert the authorities, and then sooner or later, much like with tonight, they would expose our world and ruin our plans before they take hold. And who's fault will that be?!"
"Ooh, ooh, pick me!" Mokdu called out, hand raised like he was in class, "Pick me, pick me! I know, I know, I-!"
Ghoular's sinister and growling glaire shut him up, as the kobold sulked down behind a crate.
"And, as I was saying," Horvath continued, despite the interruption, "we cannot have that to happen, now, can we?"
Ghoular just snorted, and looked away in a huff, as Horvath eyed him and walked away, "That's what I thought."
Horvath then looked to the cloaked female as he sternly said, "As for you, that's the second time I told you to keep that Boggart of yours under control. First you let one roam after a child and now this."
The cloaked female lowered her head hearing that, until she heard him say, "But if you wish to make things right, I can happily forgive you if you were to do whatever you must do for me. For us."
Horvath cupped his hand on the cloaked female's hidden chin, and gave a seductive look as he added, "Would you do that for me?"
The figure nodded, and was about to leave before he added, "Oh, and try not to fail me again, my dear."
The figure nodded once more.
"Beg pardon for speaking up," the hooded male said, in a sinister and creepy tone, "but what of the Moonshadow Elves that we were mentioned a while back?"
"Tyrion's right," the other hooded female spoke, in a thick English cockney accent, "these Moonshadow elves could still be a bit of a problem, and there's no telling if they would be next to learn of our plans, or interfere with them as well."
Horvath looked at the two, and smiled, "Worry not, Tock, I can assure you both that our hunt for these Moonshadow elves is still underway. And I'm sure that you can continue without me."
"Sure thing, boss." Tock nodded, letting out a large grin, revealing her sharp metal teeth.
"But, do not forget," Horvath then said, giving Tock a stern look, "that just because you, like Tyrian, are skilled at killing, it doesn't mean that you must always play with your victims. Make sure to use your… special ability wisely."
"Alright, alright…" Tock nodded with a sigh, "no need to remind me twice."
Horvath then looked to Tyrian, "And Tyrian, to make things super special, just in case, I would like you to find a special Moonshadow elf."
Tyrian giggled with joy on this and clapped.
"And bring them to me. Alive."
Hearing that, Tyrian froze, then groaned disappointedly, pouting for a second, then looked back up at Horvath with an acquiescent shrug.
"But what about these three?" Valron then said, gesturing to Hanami, Grace and Simon, "Those three still screwed things up, and now they said that they required a fetch to bring out more changelings, when our work is almost halfway done-"
"Quiet, Valron," Horvath glared at him, before looking to the changelings, Simon still holding the fetch.
Horvath looked at the changelings, and then asked, "Did you bring it?"
Simon and Grace were stunned when they heard him ask, they looked at each other, and then Grace went over to one box and opened it up, and took out what looked like a smoky crystal ball that was covered with bone-like plates and spikes. It had a fleshy red and black fleshy tail and six long red tentacles, both of which flipped and flopped a little when it was taken out of the crate. To anyone who would have a good look at the strange object, it somewhat resembled a jellyfish.
Horvath looked at the object… and smiled, "Well done, Grace. Simon. Despite what has transpired, you have done well to obtain a Seer for me."
He then pointed to the ground, as the female changeling knew what he meant, and placed the Seer on the ground.
"Our army grows by the second," Horvath said, as he looked to the fetch that Simon still had in his hands, "the more changelings we recruit to our cause, the greater this secret army becomes."
"Good work, you two," Horvath said, before eyeing Valron and Ghoular with an angry smirk, as he added, "unlike most of my minions, you never fail me at times."
Grace and Simon smiled at this, letting out a smirk at the tiefling and troll that threatened them. Valron and Ghoular, meanwhile, looked annoyed at that, the latter silently let out a small growl.
"Have the exchange ready," Horvath ordered, "in case we're a few Changelings short."
Horvath then turned away and took a few steps to the Seer, and said, "I wish to be alone."
Horvath' s followers knew what he meant, and lightly bowed their heads in response and started to leave (though Valron and Ghoular sneered as they left, looking to both Changelings and Tiefling, who smirked back at them, and even looking back at their master, while the hooded male let out a small snicker).
The monsters that stood around during what had happened remained in the room, looking nervous at Horvath, until their young master said, in a small calm, yet threatening, tone, "Now."
The creatures realised this, and instantly headed off in different directions, as did the Shadow Boggarts (who remained calm throughout it all), until Horvath was left with Mokdu, Featherfang and the masked figure.
"You can leave now." Horvath then said, seemingly calmly, as the masked figure and Featherfang nodded and left, while Mokdu, who picked himself up after Horvath's rage, realised what was up, and quickly followed them out of the room.
Once everyone had left the room, Horvath looked back to the Seer left for him, dormant on the floor, and raised his gloved right hand, and then made an enchantment, speaking in reverse.
"Kees ot hsiw I eno eht htrof llac, reeS gniees-llA*"
The Seer then started to float in the air, but as it did, the Seer's tentacles tense and curl up, and it trembled, the trembling grew faster and faster, emitting a high-pitched screech as its head cracked, a dark purple and red aura glowing around it during this. Then the Seer withdrew its tentacles against itself, turned over, and dropped to the floor, the red smoke inside of its head fading away. Soon, black smoke poured from the crack, swirling into the air and forming into a dark cloud of sorts.
From within the cloud, what appeared to be a constantly shifting mass of dark silhouettes of various creatures, such as tentacles, large raven wings, and even the top half of one or two creatures, before the cloud of mist cleared, and Horvath now saw an apparition of a figure, sitting in a chair, forged of rock and dark crystals, a staff in his hand.
The figure's robes were a little more tattered beyond repair, the wolf skinned hooded cloak was dirty, he had bandages wrapped around his arms, his hands covered by metal clawed gauntlets, and had what looked like a metal skull mask of sorts, that concealed the top of his face (while his eyes and nose were concealed, only his mouth was visible, though his eyes could be seen through the skull's sockets), and one thing about him was that his skin was very different, his skin being a pale, sickly grey, with purple-grey markings partially formed across his face.
Horvath looked proudly as bowed… and spoke to Malthazar.
"Everything is falling into place, Dark Lord," Horvath said.
He then stood up as he added, gesturing to his hooded cape and staff, "A coyote got caught in the crossfire with some pesky Sunfire Elves we had to deal with while on patrol a while back… so now, I got a new coat, which fits perfectly with my new staff." he then pointed out with a nervous grin as he said, "They're… uh, just like yours!"
Malthazar looked at Horvath and asked, "Have the pieces of the bridge been located, Horvath?"
"Oh, uh…" Horvath looked nervous, before standing up straight like a soldier as he said with a proud, "Yes, sir. Almost every piece has been found, the latest ones from Europe are on their way as we speak."
"Good…" Malthazar smiled under his mask, "and what of the Paladin?"
"Balasar the Braveheart has fallen." Horvath stated.
"This… pleases me, Horvath." Malthazar responded, wiggling his fingers on the arms of his dark throne as he let out a dark chuckle, "And… the Amulet?"
Horvath looked a little nervous, and gulped as he said, "That's… what I want to tell you about…"
Horvath looked to Malthazar, and then spoke, "Merlin's creation… has found a new champion: a human."
Malthazar remained still on this, "What…?"
"A child, no less." Horvath added
The Dark Lord still remained quiet, until he brought his gloved right hand to his chin, "Interesting…" Horvath looked at his master as he added, "It has been a long time since a human wielded the Amulet of Xadador."
"There's… something else that you might need to know…" Horvath said, getting the Dark Lord's attention.
Horvath gulped as he then said, "We may have to accelerate our process on the bridge and our plans."
Under his mask, Malthazar eyed Horvath with a dangerous glare, as Horvath feared facing the Dark Lord's fury as the young warlock said, "The Paladin… saw the bridge…"
Malthazar's fingers clenched onto the arms of the throne on hearing this.
"And Ghoular has even made things harder with his meal for 'fleshbags'." Horvath added, as deep in his heart, he was slowly starting to tremble with fear, as Malthazar started to rise from his throne.
Looking up to him, Horvath knelt down again, and said, "I'm sorry, my lord, I didn't mean for these to go under my watch."
Malthazar looked down upon Horvath, glaring at the slowly trembling young warlock with his cold eyes… and softly spoke, "You have nothing to be sorry for, Horvath."
Horvath looked up to the ancient warlock, letting out a small sigh of relief, as Malthazar then said, "It's understandable about having to work with the likes of Ghoular. He has always been known to think with his muscle and stomach, instead of his mind at times. And that his violence and hunger could only lead to our plans one step closer to being exposed before they are complete."
Horvath nodded at that, as Malthazar said, "Tell our forces to accelerate our plans and their workload has been doubled. The bridge must be completed by that time."
"It will," Horvath nodded to that, "and soon, Merlin's new champion will fall as the others have before him, and with your return, there will be nothing in this or any other realm that will not bend to your will."
"You mean our will," Malthazar corrected Horvath, "do not forget that you have every right to be part of this as I am."
Horvath looked to the warlock and looked down as he said, "Of course."
Malthazar let out another deep chuckle, "Merlin thought that he could contain me here in this damned prison. This Nowhere realm. To keep me here to rot, preventing the plans to make the Multiverse in our dark image."
"So arrogant." Horvath nodded.
"All in the name of balance… I've grown sick of balance." Malthazar stated, "But my time in the Shadowfell will all be worth it, once I am free from this prison."
"With the Paladin's Amulet, I will make a glorious return, and Xandador will be mine for the taken, and this and any other world, will be yours," Malthazar added, as he looked to Horvath, "and then you and I will be rulers of a beautiful, Dark Empire."
"I won't let you down…" Horvath said proudly as he stood straight… before letting out a small goofy grin as he added, "Dad."
"I know you won't." Malthazar said to his son, as he turned back to his throne, but looked back a little as he compliment with a smile, "You look good in coyote. Shows off your… wild and eccentric side."
Horvath grinned upon hearing his father's compliment, as he watched Malthazar sit back on his throne and asked, "How goes your training, my son?"
"My Dark Arts training has been doing well as expected, dad," Horvath smiled, before looking at his father as he added, "but while I enjoy my lessons on learning the Dark Arts of Dark Magix… I wish to learn to become all powerful… like you."
Malthazar eyed his son, and then asked, "You wish to follow your old man's footsteps, don't you?"
Horvath simply nodded at that in reply.
As his son waited to hear his answer (Horvath worried if he'll deny it or lash at the idea), the warlock simply replied, "Very well."
Horvath looked up to his father as he continued, "I will indeed help you on becoming a strong warlock, my son. Of course, to begin a big plan to be all powerful, one must start small."
"What do you suggest, father?"
"I would suggest, perhaps, an egg of a dragon hatchling," Malthazar suggested, "seek one out, then bring it to me, and then I will show you how to become more powerful from there."
"Consider it done, dad," Horvath nodded, "I'll send word out to locate one immediately."
"That's my boy." Malthazar said with a smirk, in a sinister way of how any dad would say to their son, he then looked at Horvath and ordered, "In the meantime, continue the preparations as scheduled, we will not speak again until the bridge is complete. Then bring the Amulet of Xadador to me, with or without the Paladin."
Horvath nodded, "Then all will tremble for our might, and the Cabal will have their revenge."
"And never forget: There is absolutely nothing in this or any other world that does not bend… to our will." Malthazar said to his son with a dark smile.
"Yes, father." Horvath nodded with a sinister grin of his own, as the image of his father disappeared.
Horvath looked back to the bridge, grinning that in due time, he will be reunited with his father… before looking from the corner of his eyes, as he said, "I hope you got all that… Ghoular."
He then heard a growl, as Ghoular, who had secretly overheard about his incompetence by his master, Horvath's father, stepped out from the entrance and looked to his master's son.
"You do know that it's rude to be listening in on other people's chats, don't you, beast?" Horvath said, as he walked up to the troll, admiring his glove at the moment.
Ghoular snarled, "Don't you dare call me a beast! I was one of your father's greatest followers of the Dumm-Dumms, the greatest warrior!"
"Last I checked, Koroglugg is my father's great follower of the Dumm-Dumm army." Horvath smirked, "While you both are warriors, while he remains successful, you remain a disappointment."
"How dare you, you ignorant little-!"
"I watch that stony tongue if I were you," Horvath threatened, his glove glowing a flaming aura of dark energy, "unless you would like to end up like what happened to Balasar."
Ghoular just growled at this, and looked away, as Horvath smirked, "That's what I thought."
Ghoular huffed at this, "What good will a dragon egg be for anyways? And what were these little projects of yours that you mentioned a while back?"
The troll looked and saw Horvath soothing (and seemingly adjusting) his gloved hand, and said with a small smirk, "That is my business… not yours."
Ghoular sneered at the warlock's son, before huffing, "Fine…" and walked away from the site, looking back from the corner of his eye with a furious look on his face, growling as the son of his master let out a mocking smirk.
Horvath looked back at the bridge, almost nearing its completion, as he thought to himself, 'Don't worry, dad… you'll be back home soon…'
The Shadowfell
As the image of his son vanished, Malthazar remained on his throne, as a coal-black raven flew down and perched on the right arm of the throne.
The raven was a little bit large, the feathers on his neck and chest were particularly a little bit thick. He had a blind right eye, which was white as the moon, while his good eye was amber, and had pink bags under his eyes. He also had yellow claws.
The raven wore a large, grey, metal mask that was much more ornate and resembled a bird's skull, with the beak part of the helmet that was dark golden, covering its beak. It also wore battle claws that, like his helmet, were more ornate.
The warlock looked at the raven, and stroked it with the tip of his fingers as it cawed.
"Yes, yes, Diablo." Malthazar said with a cruel chuckle, followed with a vile grin that crept beneath his mask, "Soon the Ragnarok Bridge will be complete, and then I will be free."
"And then Xadador, and every other world, will be mine. The magical power of every world will course through my veins… and I shall make the Multiverse… in my dark image…" the warlock chuckled, as Diablo looked to his master, remaining calm as he continued.
"Yes, oh yes. Then, all will worship ME!" he roared proudly, his words echoing around his dark throne room, raising his right gauntlet fist in the air, before lowering it once more as he softly spoke, "Me…"
He then let out a small, dark chuckle, as he mumbled aloud, "Oh, Merlin… my old friend… you believed that you could cage me in this shadowy prison, yet you fail to see that my plans are already in provision… how long I have thirsted to be a god, among mortal men…"
Author's Notes:
Phew! Now this was one chapter that took it's time to make!
I basically did work on this chapter while on the other chapters (both previous and upcoming), and I must say that I did quite well, and I hope you liked it too!
So now we're introduced to the big baddie himself, Malthazar, the evil Warlock who's Merlin's arch-enemy… and Horvath's father too! Will our heroes be able to try and stop this wicked warlock's return? Stay tuned to find out!
Now, as some of you have noticed, I've changed the youngest Kirby's name from Sophie to Kira, to add to some of the Kirby family's love for various pop cultures.
What exactly happened with Officer Holt, again, stay tuned to find out in future.
Now for some chapter references
*Dark Magic Reverse Translation: All-seeing Seer, call forth thr one I wish to seek.
As mentioned by Chuckie and Taylor, Maltharzar is based off and inspired by Voldemort, as well as other antagonists like SkekSo the Emperor from the Dark Crystal, Vigo from Ghostbusters, the antagonist of the same name from Arthur and the Invisibles, and Mandrake from Epic, especially for the latter two who have sons.
The Grimm Shadows were based off the Dark Gaia enemies of Sonic: Unleashed and the Grimm from RWBY, with elements for the Shadow Boggarts inspired by the Dementors from Harry Potter, the Demogorgons of Stranger Things and even both Weeping Angels and Vashta Nerada from Doctor Who.
Next time, another bit of family moments, especially some father moments in the next chapter (Might get some tissues just in case)
Until next time, True Beleivers!
Excelsior!