Chapter 20: Prelude
"I thought you wanted to cure the world of its Darkness, not become it." Grunted Tahir, barely standing after the chain spears hand punched through his body, pinning him to the ground. A dark chuckle could be heard as Dane spoke.
"I have erased it. And from it, I have created a power that not even the gods can defeat. I just need one more thing and then it will all be over." Willing every last bit of strength left to him, Tahir walked to Dane, latching on to his cloak so as not to fall.
"You were the White Mage, the one who was going to save us. You can't do that as a black mage." Dane looked down to him, grabbing his shirt and hauling him into the air.
"I am saving you; by getting rid of it all. And please, call me Magus Sloe."
12 hours earlier
"What do we do now?" asked Will once Ariel and Rhinne were gone. Tahir sat down on the medical cot, leaning on his knees as he rested his nose on his laced fingers.
"We have to get Mars or Vieren on our side. I'll take care of them. You need to gather as many of the Acolytes and Clerics as you can. I have a feeling this will result in a war that will tear Aurora apart."
"You want to start a mutiny? The world is in grave danger, how can you think of something like mutiny?" Will asked, throwing on a new shirt and grabbing up his staff.
"The world has been inching closer to disaster every day. Its only now that we've actually seen the path we were taking and how close we are to it. You heard Ariel yourself answer my theory; Master Dane is the one creating these more powerful Omens. He nearly killed you for Minerna's sake!" Will's head dropped and his shoulders slumped.
"All this time I've been training to rid the world if the Omens, to one day help the world heal. I still want to believe in that mission." A heavy hand lay on his shoulder, squeezing it tightly.
"You still can Will. But if we don't so something that mission will be lost to us. Gather Eleanor and have her help you as well. If she has any misgivings, tell her to come to me." Will picked his eyes up, steeling his expression and pulling his body to ridged attention when he realized that Tahir called him by 'Will' for the first time.
"Aye Commander. You can count on me." Tahir nodded, jerking his head to the side telling Will to get going. Once alone, Tahir let himself think: if Dane were the one behind it the Omens becoming stronger then he would have told the rest of the Aurora, right? Why keep it a secret? The only reason there would be to keep it secret was so that no one else would have to be so close to Darkness all the time. Unless…
"Unless the Darkness has infected him and has been controlling him all this time!" Tahir thought. That thought alone drove him to direct his convincing to Vieren first. Vieren seemed like he would be at least open to the possibility. As Tahir expected, he found Vieren within the Knowledge Depository.
"Master Vieren." He called, trotting up to him making the other Clerics and a few of the acolytes snap their attention to him.
"Commander Tahir. What's the matter, you look pale." Asked Vieren Speaking low, Tahir leaned in so that Vieren was the only one to hear.
"I need to speak with you in Private. There is an imminent threat to the Aurora." He muttered. Vieren smiled and spoke normally.
"There is no need to be so secretive Commander. I'm sure that…"
"No." retorted Tahir in a dull hiss. Vieren lost is friendly expression, his brow lowering and his shoulders stiffening. Holding out a hand he escorted him to his office, shutting the door and cast a spell to block any noise from leaking out.
"What is so urgent that you would need to speak only to me commander?"
"I have reason to believe that Master Dane is the one creating the stronger Omens. As a result, he is adding to the Darkness that is currently in the world by a major amount. I believe that Dane is also being controlled by the Darkness itself to push the world closer to a state of disaster." Vieren lowered his brow further, squinting his eyes and tilting his head while stepping closer to him.
"Are you certain Commander? If this is some kind of joke…"
"I assure you Master Vieren, this is no joke. I would go to Mars, but I don't think that he would believe me. He seems willfully blind to what is going on here." Vieren sat down, setting his staff on the table then gripping his chin.
"What evidence do you have to prove this?"
"Very little. In fact most of what I have to offer is only speculation. The only solid thing I have to offer is that the goddess Ariel herself came to take Rhinne back to her temple. She also warned me that Darkness had begun twisting Dane beyond saving. The only way I can either confirm or deny my suspicions is to talk to Master Dane himself."
"Then why are you coming to me? It sounds as if you have a course of action already planned out."
"Because I need to convince Master Mars to let me past to see Master Dane. As I said, he either knows what is happening and has been keeping it hidden, or his is willfully blind to what is happening." Vieren pushed his tongue into his cheek, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Have you told anyone about this?"
"The only other one that knows is Will. I have sent him to try and gather Clerics and Acolytes that would be willing to stand if this is indeed true. I am hoping that Eleanor will be able to join us as well." With a heavy sigh, Vieren dropped his forehead into his hand, staying that way for a long while in deafening silence.
"I would hate to think that this is all some elaborate ruse Commander." Vieren growled, snatching up his staff and standing to his full height, squaring his shoulders before motioning him to follow.
"If this is true you were right to come to me, but you were hasty in trying to recruit members of the Aurora before doing so. What's done is done though. If Cleric Will does gather any that would be loyal, gather them in the forest to the south. I will come for you once I have looked over a few things in the Depository." He commanded. Tahir nodded his understanding, leaving with hurried steps to complete what could either be a near miss, or a great tragedy.
9.5 hours earlier
"He should have come already." Will bellowed, looking north as he stood with his back to the small staging camp set up in the forest.
"Vieren said that he would come for us when he was ready. I just told him something that rocks everything he believes in and it seems he wanted to find a pattern of his own. Would you have believed it yourself had you not lived through it?" Tahir asked, looking over to Eleanor as she leaned against a tree on the fringes of the firelight.
"It still doesn't seem right. Why would he be the danger we are trying to prevent?" she asked.
"You weren't there Eleanor. You didn't feel the haunting, soul chilling Darkness that came with him. He's been using Darkness so long that it has begun to become a part of him." Will answered.
"I thought he knew the dangers of messing with it from the start?" Eleanor asked.
"That's the thing about Darkness, Paladin Eleanor." Another voice said, making her draw and hold her sword to the throat of Vieren, fire flaring around the cutting edges.
"Master Vieren, I…"
"It's alright. But to answer your question, Darkness is not something that takes you over all at once. It is a slow process. This is something that Master Dane wrote in the earliest days of his research: 'It has no form yet it fills the world; it has no substance yet it taints even the purest of hearts; it has no will, yet all who see it succumb to it.' Later writings say that only if one is constantly aware, Darkness will touch you and if you let it, will begin to grow in power at a nearly undetectable rate. But by the time it is noticed, it will almost certainly be too late."
"But something has to let it in first doesn't it? I mean, as long as you're paying attention it shouldn't be a problem, right?" Will asked. Vieren shook his head.
"I think there has always been a spot of Darkness within him that was never fully dealt with. In his middle writings, Dane speaks of someone named Menodora. It sounds as if she meant a great deal to him, but there is no mention as to what happened to her. With that spot still within him, there are already a foothold for the Darkness to latch onto. Working to make Darkness stronger only made it worse." Silence hug thick between them, the only sound being the crackling of the fire. Vieren broke the silence, turning to Tahir with questioning eyes.
"How many of the Aurora were you able to gather?" The three of them hung their heads and their shoulders dropped.
"We are all that are here. Will's efforts were only laughed off by the Acolytes, and the other Cleric blatantly threatened to have disciplinary action brought against him for speaking such slander." Answered Tahir, reaching for his dagger and balancing it on the tip of his finger.
"I had a feeling this would be the case." Vieren quietly muttered, shaking his head.
"But still, there is a grave danger that we must stop. Will and Eleanor, I want you ready to rally and organize the Order should chaos ensue. I will take Tahir to see Master Mars, and ultimately Master Dane." Will and Eleanor nodded in understanding, gathering their belongings and putting out the fire.
"Good luck to you both." Will called.
"Good luck to us all." Tahir called back, waving as he turned. As he walked, a wave of calm came over him, much the same way he had felt before Dane had found him in the forest so long ago.
"Talea, I'm sorry you had to wait. I think I'll be coming home this time."
8 hours earlier
Pacing back and forth near the door to Dane's Lab, Mars tried to appear calm. Something was going on in the ranks of the Aurora, and someone was spreading rumors about how Dane was actually causing more trouble than he was actually fixing. Yes, he knew about the Omens, but they were in direct line with researching the Darkness and finding the Ultimate Darkness, weren't they?
All the same, small doubts began to leak into his mind; had he been complicit in allowing the Master to continue on as he had? Had he been willfully ignorant to the worsening of the world's Darkness through the Master's research? Had the Master's recent enriching experiments been affecting him more than he had seen? But they were so close to creating that Ultimate Darkness, and with that they would be able to create the Ultimate Light!
Mars jumped when Vieren called to him, clearing his throat and straightening his shoulders. There was also that mercenary with him; he could be the one behind the starting of the rumors.
"Yes Vieren, what is it that I can do for you?"
"Commander Tahir needs to see the Master. There is something urgent that we must discuss with him." Mars raised his eyebrow, looking to Tahir while taking a breath with feigned calm.
"I'm sorry, but I can't allow the master to be disturbed at this time. We are very close to finding what we have been after all this time." He replied, pulling his arms behind him as if to appear more authoritative.
"Have you not seen what has been happening all around us? Have you not heard what the Acolytes and the Clerics have reported their findings of the Omens?" Vieren bellowed, loud enough to disrupt the nearby acolytes in their studies.
"The strength of the omens is because of the strength of the Darkness. We knew this would happen when we left the world behind to complete our research here. Do not lose your faith now Vieren when we are so close to achieving our goal!"
"MARS! We need to speak to the Master to either refute or confirm a grave matter." Tahir thundered, beginning to draw more people around them.
"And what matter would that be?" Asked Mars, looking down at them from over his nose.
"That Master Dane has been the one creating and strengthening the Omens and as a result has been taken over by the Darkness itself." A hush descended over the entire crowd, Acolytes looking back and forth between Mars, Tahir and Vieren.
"Is this true Master Mars? Has the Mage been creating stronger Omens?" asked a young acolyte. More of them began to press in, asking the same question demanding some kind of answer.
"If you have known about this then you are no master of mine!" Vieren howled. Mars sighed, holding up his hands to quiet the crowd. Swallowing hard he hung his head, sucking on his upper lip hidden under his grand mustache.
"I've known. I've known since we first retreated to this forest. The Master has been creating stronger and stronger Omens, enriching them to create the Ultimate Darkness, from which we can use the Ultimate Light! The Master is so close, we cannot start letting doubts cloud our minds. I choose to believe in the master until the end." All the acolytes stood stunned, unable to speak when Tahir broke the silence pointing to him with a shaking finger.
"You knew about the Omens? People were suffering in the world and you knew who was creating these monsters?"
"Omens had been appearing long before The Master began his research in earnest. The Omens that have been appearing recently are the doing of the Master. Yes, it is a great evil, but a necessary one if it means that Darkness will be wiped from the face of Usoria."
"'…a necessary evil'? You would put your own Clerics, your own Acolyte's lives at risk?! What of the people that have died in the world to these Omens? What of the Clerics and Acolytes who were injured while fighting them? What would you say to those that lay their very life on the line while you sit back and watch?!"
"We all take risks Commander Tahir. That is what we of the Aurora are for."
"CALCULATED risks! Not blind warfare with something far more dangerous than we imagined."
"It is still a needed evil Commander." Tahir's face began to shift through shades of red, reaching for his dagger in a blur.
"Open the door, move aside, or I will go through you and open it myself." Mars' brow became set, lowering over his eyes as he held his staff forward.
"You are not thinking of the grand picture Commander."
"Mars! The world is in a grave state. Who knows what will happen if Master Dane is completely corrupted by Darkness." Shouted Vieren. Mars clenched his jaw tighter, his knuckles whitening on his staff.
"Neither of you are seeing the larger picture!" Bellowed Mars. Tahir tried to duck around him, bolting for the Laboratory door when a wall of opaque white appeared before him. Metal slapping metal could be heard as a box made of white light surrounded him.
"Take him to the Brig, and confiscate Vieren's staff. Vieren, I am confining you to quarters. I will be by shortly to speak with you." Mars commanded. A Cleric came into the room, holding his staff towards Tahir's box and directing it out of the room. An Acolyte reluctantly took Vieren's staff away as two more burly Clerics came in and escorted him to his room.
"YOU ARE MAKING A GRAVE MISTAKE MARS! LISTEN TO ME! THE MASTER MUST BE STOPPED!" Tahir screamed, but Mars turned away, stowing Vieren's staff on the wall next to the Lab's door.
7.75 hours earlier
Gathering the latest cores, Dane dumped them into the large jar, shaking it around and pouring out the large lump within. For a long while his stared at it, watching as it swirled within its own skin.
"Is it almost complete?" a voice within Dane's head asked.
"No, it is complete. Now I must only direct this entire mass through a single emotion and I will have my Ultimate light." Dane muttered to himself, reaching for his staff when he felt something holding him back.
"There will be no need for that staff from now on, White Mage." The voice in his head boomed, making the reach for his staff harder and harder. Inch by inch, Dane moved his arm, his legs, his body closer to the staff. When his finger was about to touch the steel of the shaft, Dane felt his body freeze, unable to move any closer to the staff.
"You may have found your Ultimate Darkness, but what good will it do to turn it into your Ultimate Light? Once the Darkness has been used as such, there will be nothing left, much like paper to a fire."
"Paper is used to start a fire, not sustain it."
"Exactly. Ultimate Darkness can only be used to start the Ultimate Light, it cannot sustain it."
"Then what should I do? I have everything I need to finally rid the world of Darkness." Deep within him, an uncomfortable stirring writhed so greatly that his stomach churned. His head felt light and his vision blurred for a moment. It was almost as if the voice within his mind were growling in anger.
"You have found a way to momentarily 'scare' it away. You should remember from your past, Darkness is not so easily vanquished."
"NO, you're wrong. The Ultimate Light that I have carried with me all this time, given to me by Menodora will be the light that cleanses the Darkness from…"
"YOU WILL CLEANSE NOTHING!" the voice boomed, throwing him to the ground in a lifeless heap.
"But what of…"
"Your precious light is nothing before Darkness. You have studied my properties, used me to create and refine a Darkness not even the gods can counter. You shall be my emissary of justice to deliver that which those who live rightly deserve."
"And what is that?" Dane asked.
"Destroy everything they hold dear. There is no Ultimate Light." He felt himself say with a malicious growl. His eyes became wide, wanting to reach for the lump of Darkness he had created to destroy it.
"You're wrong." He whispered, a spell of light flaring in his opposite hand ready to purge this Darkness he had created.
"Am I? Tell me then, what has Light every brought you?"
"It brought me Menodora."
"And she is dead because of it."
"It has brought me the acquaintance of Deities."
"They used you before you were even born."
"I have found friends in that same search to understand Light and to find the Ultimate Light."
"They only stay because they need you to teach them. Once they are masters, they will all abandon you!"
"Light has brought me the love of Ariel when I thought I would never be able to love again."
"Like the other Deities, she is using you only for her own goals. Sweet words of love and care can be spoken by anyone. Light hasn't brought you a single thing. It has only shown you who is afraid of the Dark."
"But what about…"
"The Ultimate Light? A Farce. It only appears to be lighter because you aren't focused on the Darkness. If you want to be truly strong, then forget them all. Show them just how powerful your Darkness really is. Show them, Magus Sloe!" with heavy arms, Dane pulled himself up, picking up the lump of Darkness from the floor and watching the swirls of black and grey within it, dissipating his Light spell. All at once he reached for the tome given to him by Arkarium. When he set it on the spine, the book fell open to the center page where it depicted an alchemic circle labeled the Gran Umbra Arca: The Great Circle of Dark Alchemy created in collaboration between he and Arkarium. He cleared the floor of any furniture, swept it clear of dirt and dust, then began to etch out the pattern in the stone floor.
"There is no Ultimate Light. It was only a lie to make the world seem less lonely. The only constant in this world is pain, and thus, Darkness. If they all want to fear something, then I will give them the Ultimate Darkness. They shall have Magus Sloe. The pursuit of Light has brought me nothing but pain!"
"You may be able to create a power that towers even gods by combining Anti-Magic and Darkness, but even that will not have the power to destroy it all."
"Then I will absorb all the world's Darkness!" Dane seethed.
"Even by taking me in, you still will not have the power to eradicate everything. There is still that which exists beyond our little planet."
"Then I will take the power of Rhinne. Ariel wants to create a new world, then that is what she will have!" Shadows hissed around him as he carved turning his eyes a glowing red. His hands and arms became thin and boney, but still held great strength within them as he carved out the stone faster and faster.
"There is no Ultimate Light; it is a myth. There is however, Ultimate Darkness. And I will show it to them!"
3 hours earlier
Ariel was watching the world far below; there was something different about it. It was as if the planet itself were suffering from a bad case of the jitters waiting for something to happen. Rhinne stood beside her, focusing her attention on Will as he moved through the Forest of Peace.
"Please, just let me go back there. Something is happening I can feel it." Rhinne begged, shaking Ariel's concentration.
"No, it is too dangerous for you to…" Something caught Ariel's attention: a pull. No, this wasn't a pull, this was a call to her. A prayer. She had ignored it for so long before she met Dane that she had almost forgotten what a prayer felt like. With a command to Clank to keep her from leaving the Temple, Ariel followed the call to a fountain spewing darker colored sand than the rest of the fountains. Wiping her hand across the bench, she cleared the dust and grains away to see a title etched into the marble: Grandis. With a wave of her hand the fountain's streams formed a circle in midair, showing a view of a warrior dressed in heavy red armor, kneeling at his immense sword and holding his wings low.
"Goddess Ariel of the land called Usoria, please hear my prayer that I may tell of danger that is in your presence." Ariel grinned to herself, thinking back to the days when the people of Usoria used pray to her like that.
"I am here Warrior. I have heard your prayer and I answer. What is it that you beseech?" she asked, a glow lighting the area around the man. He looked up stunned, putting a hand before his eyes before bowing down once more.
"Goddess, I am a humble servant of my People. I am Keiser Vulcurion, Master Guardian of the Dracova. I come to you to warn you of one that was once our own but has strayed and thus has been banished. I fear that he has gone to Usoria and will do whatever it takes to gather power. Beware of him, for he is formidable."
"Be at ease Vulcurion. What is this man's name?" smiled Ariel.
"His name is Magnus, my goddess." Ariel tilted her head in interest.
"And what did Magnus do to deserve banishment from your lands?"
"Magnus is a Dracova of strong body and stronger will. He sought the title of Keiser and its power to overthrow neighboring countries to aggressively expand our territory. The title of Keiser is meant as a great responsibility to the Dracova as Master Guardian, not Conqueror. The previous Keiser thus chose me as her successor, but Magnus would not accept this and slew the Counsel of Ten, demanding that he be named Keiser."
"And so, for his crime you banished him and now he seeks power to take the title by force."
"Yes, my goddess."
"I thank you for your warning Keiser Vulcurion. I shall keep my eyes on the world for him." Vulcurion bowed his head lower, touching his fingers to his forehead before standing from his knelt position. With another wave of her hand, Ariel allowed the sands to collapse back together. So many things were happening in Usoria, it was a wonder that everything hadn't fallen apart already. She walked back to the Balcony that was overlooking Usoria when she heard Rhinne let out a shrill scream.
"NOOOOOOO!"
1 hour earlier
For the third time, Tahir had counted the bars in his cell. For the third time he had been told to stop tapping his finger against them as he counted, and for the third time, he didn't abide. How could the Aurora be so blind as to what was happening? Mars admitted that Dane was the one creating the stronger Omens, and that he had known about them for some time. And still he saw no problem with it.
The weight of what he knew had to be done kept mounting on his mind, losing track after four hours. Tapping on the bars of his cell seemed like a way to bring in one of the Cleric to stop him and thus allow him to knock one out and escape by using their key. But they seemed to have an endless well of patience. There was still Will and Eleanor on the outside, but he didn't know what they were up to since they parted ways near the beginning of the day.
"I have to get out of here NOW!" Tahir thought, looking to the lock on the cell door. If it were a normal lock, he'd be able to pick it in a matter of moments. However, this lock was magically enchanted so even if he was able to pick the actual lock, the magic would keep it shut. From outside, he thought he could hear a hammer tapping on the stone coming closer to him. After a few moments, the sound stopped moving on his wall and became more of a pattern. When the tapping stopped he thought about what the pattern was trying to tell him until he heard the familiar sound of Light Magic charging.
No sooner had he dove to the side of his cell then a blast of light and sound ripped through the back wall. Instantly alarms began to sound, making the guards turn hard into the Brig. When they had, two figures appeared behind them, knocking them out with an impact to their necks.
"Commander, you ok?" Eleanor called, setting a heavy foot on the rubble of the back wall. Tahir coughed as he pushed his way out of the rubble, waving his hand back and forth to clear the dust away from his face.
"I'm fine. Try to leave a bit more time between your warning and your breaking of walls next time though."
"I doubt there will be a next time. Master Mars has basically locked down the entirety of Aurora. He's even gone so far as to declare you a radical non-conformist." Will answered, grabbing the keys from the guards and unlocking the cell door to allow he and Vieren inside.
"There's a giant hole in the wall, why did you need to open that?" demanded Tahir as Vieren closed the cell, locked it, then brought the keys inside dropping them in the middle.
"So, it'll be harder to follow. Come on." Vieren urged, handing Tahir his dagger as they left the building running for the woods where they had gathered before. This time however, a dozen Acolytes and Clerics were waiting for them.
"We managed to convince a few of them to join us after we heard what happened in the temple." Will explained, introducing them all to Tahir who began drawing out plans to infiltrate the Aurora and stop Dane once and for all. Just as they were beginning to move out, all of them felt a wave of instability flood over them.
"What is this?! I'm standing still but the ground is moving!" one of the Acolytes exclaimed. Two others fell to their knees and wretched hard, shutting their eyes in trying to ease their sick feeling. Tahir and Will both steadied themselves against a tree while Eleanor struggled the keep her eyes open, shutting them from time to time.
"What is happening? It's like the world is spinning in its own skin." Eleanor shouted. Vieren slammed the end of his staff down as light exploded around them only to die away just as quickly.
"This is all Darkness. It is all the world's darkness being drawn somewhere."
"I know where it's headed." Tahir growled, pointing to the ground and drawing their attention to the woodgrain-like appearance of the ground rushing in the same direction they were headed.
Present time
With urgent steps, the small troupe hurried through the woods. As they ran, the whole world around them suddenly felt lighter, brighter than it ever had in their entire lives. Their momentary happiness was shattered when an explosion ripped through the air, blowing through the tree tearing branches and leaves from them. The force threw them all to the ground as a cloud of dark purple flames rose high into the air.
"What was that?!" and Acolyte called. No one said anything as they regained their footing and balance running for the temple once more. What greeted them was not the grand white a gold building they had known, but instead a mountain of rubble. The trees and grass all around had been splintered and burned away leaving nothing but ash and dirt behind. As they neared, a cold feeling began to descend making them all break out in goose flesh. Near the center of the building where the knowledge depository used to be, crouched a lone figure. Smoke-like aura poured from his back surrounding him in flames of black. Coming even closer allowed them to see dozens of the Aurora Clerics, some crushed and half buried under rubble. Others impaled on gold rods that had decorated the building.
A noise at their feet made them all begin digging through the rubble, keeping an eye on the figure that still sat crouched in the center, seeming not to care about their presence. A heavy mist began to fall on them as they dug, finally pulling back the stones to reveal Mars, battered and bloody. Eleanor lowered herself into the hole they had created and reached for his neck, barely able to feel a pulse. The touch made Mars open his eyes and roll on to his back.
"Oh… it's just you." He wheezed, a glob of blood dripping down his mouth as he coughed.
"Mars, don't speak, Will can fix you right up." Eleanor commanded, but Mars dropped a hand on her foot.
"There's no time. Run… run. The master has been consumed by the Darkness. There is no hope for him now." he said with a strained whisper. Turning his head to the sky, he closed his eyes, coughing again as blood soaked his magnificent mustache and ran down his face as the rain fell.
"I knew The Master was dabbling in the dangerous. But I wanted… to believe in the future we hoped to create… I wanted… to… believe." His head slumped to the side as the crystals in his Shining Rod lost their glow. Eleanor bowed her head and sighed hard. Vieren began to franticly look around, pointing in directions as though trying to remember where certain halls used to be and ran. Tahir followed him, coming to an area where the Cleric's living quarters had been. Vieren anxiously looked around, trying to remember where his quarters had been. When he did find his room, there was nothing but rubble. Tears stained his eyes as he began to dig through it, calling for Tasia.
Tahir began digging through the rubble as well, knowing well the panic driven fear that Vieren felt. In his heart he prayed that he wouldn't be the one to find her and in the end he didn't. But when Vieren did find her, she was already dead. With tender care, he lifted the last of the rubble from her broken body, screaming into the crook of her neck while cradling her in his arms and rocking back and forth. Beside him, Tahir noticed that his Shining Rod's glow began to intensify, lighting the dark area with an angry white light.
"Vieren, whatever you're thinking you need to stop now." But he was ignored as Vieren lay Tasia down, grabbed up his rod and charged the man sitting in the center.
"VIEREN STOP!" shouted Tahir, reaching for him but missing as he teleported away. Eleanor and Will both saw what was happening and tried to intercept him. But Eleanor was thrown aside as a doll and Will's entrapment spell was shattered. Eleanor tried once again to go after him, using her own teleportation spell but was unable to keep up with Vieren's rage fueled power. Teleporting into the air, Vieren raised his rod above his head, unleashing an enormous wave of blinding white light.
"YOU WILL PAY WHITE MAGE!" Vieren readied to unleash another wave. The first hit Dane hard, shaking the ground with its force. But the dust cleared in a flash as Dane threw his hand out, spear tipped chains bursting from the ground. With another broken-hearted scream, Vieren loosed another wave of light. It was obliterated as the chains punched through it, then through Vieren holding him in midair. Silence hung thick as the troupe looked on in horror; there were almost more chains than there was left of Vieren.
With another wave of his hand, the chains all spread, obliterating Vieren's body from existence before it all evaporated as a cloud of ash. Whispers hung thick in the air around Dane as he stood, turning his torrid red gaze to them.
"We have to stop him here. WE HAVE TO STOP HIM! HE CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO LEAVE!" An Acolyte shouted, all the rest springing into action. Will commanded them to stop but was ignored, reaching out his hand as his own Rod flew to his hand. Eleanor took up her sword once again, charging over the piles of rubble. Tahir grabbed his dagger, jumping from boulder to boulder towards the fray. Dane however only smirked, the hood of his black and gold cloak covering one of his eyes as he swept his hand towards them.
The chains all turned their attention to the oncoming troupe, driving down hard enough to split rock if they missed their target. Bursts of light from the Acolytes and Clerics managed to get rid of the chains on contact but halted their assault. Eleanor spotted an opening and ran for it, teleporting point blank at Dane. As she swung her sword, Dane looked down at her instantly making her scream in fear. Her terror blinded her to chains coming from her side driving through her tough shield, armor and body. Again, the chains spread obliterating her body from existence before vaporizing it into ash.
Other Acolytes tried to advance, taking risks after shoving aside some of the chains. But they too would only get within striking distance before being skewered and obliterated. Tahir and Will fought as hard as they could, blasting or redirecting the chains into the ground. But with each minute that passed, their bodies began to tire and an ever-growing fear built within them.
Backing up to one another, Will and Tahir managed to keep the chains as bay more easily, but even that was short lived. The chains gathered, into one large group hitting Will hard enough to throw him aside and the rod from his hand. Once he landed, Will ran for his rod jumping at it to grab and tumble back up. Just as he was about to touch it, chains exploded from the ground through his body halting him in mid-flight. He could hear the commander call to him from far away, as a frigid feeling swelled within him.
He could feel the chains beginning to pull in all directions, pulling sinew from bone and muscle from muscle, but there was no pain. Instead, he felt as if he were simply disappearing. Somewhere in the far distance, he thought he heard a woman scream. He knew that voice; It was Rhinne's voice. But she was back in the Temple of Time with her mother. How could he hear her? All at once, he saw Tahir's dagger spin through the chains under him, cutting him down to the ground. As the chains within his body dissipated the blood began to flow making the cold deepen.
From the ground once more chains rose, all aiming down at him. Tahir forced his tired body to move, running to his downed friend. Just as the chains began to drive down, Will heard thuds and squelches, making him look up to see spear heads and chains poking through Tahir's chest and gut standing over him.
"I thought you wanted to cure the world of its Darkness, not become it." Grunted Tahir, barely standing after the chain spears hand punched through his body. A dark chuckle could be heard as Dane spoke.
"I have erased it. And from it, I have created a power that not even the gods can defeat. I just need one more thing and then it will all be over." Willing every last bit of strength left to him, Tahir walked to Dane, latching on to his cloak so as not to fall.
"You were the White Mage, the one who was going to save us. You can't do that as a black mage." Dane looked down to him, grabbing his shirt and hauling him into the air.
"I am saving you; by getting rid of it all. And please, call me Magus Sloe." He growled, throwing him aside, pulling the chains from his body one by one before carving up his body and vaporizing it into a cloud of ash.
"Thank you for all you have done. But your services are no longer required." Sloe barked, walking to Will who lay heaving for breath. Ash swirled from each of the wounds in his body, unable to move. Sloe stood over him blank, uncaring eyes glowing in the dark of his hood.
"You were never worthy of my daughter, child." He whispered, walking away to the west. He had the power to go where he needed for the final piece to his power, but even he would not be able to do it alone. No, it's not that he couldn't do it alone, he just didn't want to expend the energy unnecessarily. He would need Soldiers, Commanders, and Generals. A dark smile spread across his face as the first came to mind: Hilda and her half dragon lover, Magnus.
