Dan Schwoegl
Mateusz stops at the caves entrance and looks into the inky blackness. He could feel the black power sucking at his energy like the cold draws away the warmth from a person. Mateusz put a protective veil spell over himself, like how a person would put on a cloak to keep warm. It helped protect him but at this close to the source it couldn’t stop him from feeling the raw energy swirling around him. Mateusz shook his head and silently cursed himself for getting into this situation. His angry feeling caused his familiar Kull, a small lizard from an ocean away, to come out of hiding and sit on Mateusz’s shoulder. Mateusz feels the familiar’s question in his mind, as if he had thought of it himself. Why are we here? Mateusz speaks out loud to keep his thoughts from tangling with the familiar’s. “Because we are on a makahl. The quest to unlock my true power.” But why here? The thought echoes in his head. “Because as soon as we stepped into this valley we could feel the taint on this land. You could see how the pollution is stealing the life out of those people.” But you are a novice. I mage in training with no affiliation to any of the soul powers. What can you hope to do against a power this strong? “I am living my life’s path. Who am I to question where it leads me? If I leave this power unchecked. If I leave that village to suffer, than I might as well turn my back on my power.” The answer drifts through his thoughts. Fine, be that way. But if your actions result in my death than my soul will hunt yours to whatever plane it’s banished to and I will remove you from eternity. Evan with that kind of threat Mateusz knew that he couldn’t turn his back on this cave. Mateusz started into the cave. He did not take ten steps before the unnatural blackness blocked out the light from the mouth of the cave. Mateusz cast a small beacon spell and transferred it into the lizard to keep from using too much of his own energy. Kull was able to shine a small light that cut through the darkness about fifteen feet in front and around the duo. Undaunted Mateusz continued to follow the cave. The cave felt as if it spiraled down deep into the heart of the earth. As Mateusz moved deeper into the cave he could feel the power growing and swelling all around him. He felt as if he were swimming in the cold inky blackness of the bottom of the ocean with only his small power and the light to break up the oppressing feeling. After an eternity of walking Mateusz came to a great grey wooden door. Mateusz could sense that the source of the power was behind this door. He could feel the power radiating around him. He felt words form in his head. So what’s the plan boss? “What?” Mateusz asks. Well you lead us down here. What’s the next step? Do we turn around or do we open the door? Mateusz knew that if he turned around that he would never last the trip back. His only choice was to open the door. Almost as if the door read his thoughts it opened. Mateusz felt himself move into the room without any active thought. The door shut behind Mateusz, leaving him in a pure white room that had no defined boundaries. Mateusz looked around in awe of his surroundings. Suddenly a shape shifted in front of Mateusz and moved itself into the shape of a man. The man looked Mateusz in the eye. He didn’t seem like much infant he wasn’t much older than Mateusz himself. But he had a look of someone drained of energy. His skin was pale and papery, his eyes seemed like sunken hallows underneath the thin dead hair. After a while the man broke the silence “Amazing isn’t it? This room. When I first came here I was as amazed as you. So bright after all that darkness. Its beauty almost hurts the eyes. But that was before. I’m different now before I was a weak man. Now I am a supreme being. So Much POWER!” the man yelled the last words so loud one would expect an echo but not in this room. He continued in a whisper “so much power is now mine and with it I will rule the world, from this room of course. But YOU mean to take it away from me, to take my world and my power. But if I was able to defeat he who was here before me with all his strength than I can beat a small weakling like you.” The man cast a fire dart spell at Mateusz. A small one but with such force that Mateusz barely had time to doge it. Then a rock came at him which he deflected. Then a water spray, then a razor wind. Then a fire ball. It seemed the man was casting spells from the different soul powers in order. Each time getting bigger and more powerful until he was just casting pure energy at Mateusz. Mateusz for his part had made a small shield of protective spells around himself barely holding the storm of energy at bay. The energy spheres were different colors for the different powers. Red for fire, green for earth, blue for water, and grey for air. The colors were swirling around Mateusz blocking the white of the walls and getting darker and darker as spells stacked. Eventually Mateusz felt as if he were back outside the room it was so dark and oppressive. He felt as if he were a small candle barely cutting into the darkness. The Mateusz had a though. That if a candle burnt the wax and not the wick, and if the energy was the wax. That his candle was sitting in a pool of oil just waiting to be burned. So Mateusz reached out and grabbed some of the energy around him and fed it to his protective “fire”. When that worked he grabbed a bigger handful, and then a bigger one. Eventually the energy around him started to pour into him, to go through him into the “fire”. Mateusz herd a scream and relisesed it came from the man, like Mateusz was stealing the energy right out of him. Mateusz walked up to the man and touched him and the power transferred at an even greater volume. Mateusz took his “flame” and fashioned a blade out of it. He used the blade to destroy the man. One touch of the blade to the man and the man crumbled to dust and out of existence. Mateusz looked around and saw that he was in the room again but he could still feel the power pouring into him, and he knew what the man was talking about that access to all the power of the world in his hands. He could rule nations. It was even more energy that the council of mages could command. Mateusz knew that if he pulled on this power that he would be unstoppable. Just keep pulling the power. That’s all he would have to do to rule. Then a thought came into his head. Where is this power coming from? “From me obviously. This must be the power that I was meant to unlock. Those stupid teachers didn’t know what they were bossing around.” Mateusz quickly and angrily replied. No its not. You are just a wick for this energy. What’s the source? Was the reply in his head. Then Mateusz had his second revelation of the day. This was what was stealing the energy of this valley. This room and the poorly trained mages inhabiting it. Mateusz then knew that he was not the first mage to be in this room. Not the first one to have to make the decision between this stolen power and the lives of the people. Mateusz did not think twice before he decided but he did decide.
Eat the Dark · Fri Apr 15, 2011 @ 03:12am · 0 Comments |